Taipei - Taiwan prosecutors on Thursday requested a 14-month prison term for a city councilman after charging him with inciting a mob to attack a visiting Chinese official last week.

The indictment clouded next week's visit by China's top negotiator with Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, as pro-independence groups saw the charges as the government appeasing China and vowed to confront Chen wherever he goes.

"Through radio broadcasting, the defendant Wang Ting-yu publicly incited the public to rally at the venue where Zhang Mingqing visited and led the mob in applying violence by pushing Zhang, resulting in Zhang being shoved to the ground and injured," prosecutor Lee Ching-wen said.

"For this, we are seeking a sentence of one year and two months in prison," she said.

Lee said prosecutors also charged six other people with attacking Zhang October 21 and preventing his car from leaving from a visit to a temple in the southern city of Tainan, a home base of Taiwan independence advocates.

Zhang - deputy chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), which represents China in talks with Taiwan - filed a lawsuit against his assailants after the attack, which drew condemnation from both Chinese and Taiwan authorities.

Wang denied he had ever incited the public to attack Zhang, claiming the assailants were ordinary civilians who were dissatisfied with a comment by Zhang that if there was no Taiwan independence, there would be no cross-strait war.

Claiming injustice, Wang said at a news conference that the indictment was politically motivated and meant as a "big gift" to China by the government of China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou ahead of the visit by ARATS chairman Chen.

"Let us use our voices to tell China and the whole world that Taiwan is never a part of China," Wang said.

Chen, the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to visit Taiwan since the two split at the end of a civil war in 1949, is to lead a 60-member delegation for high-level talks in Taipei from Monday through November 7.

Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of China subject to eventual unification one day.

Wang's indictment drew an outcry from lawmakers of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, who claimed it was a political intrigue by the government to purge anti-China and pro-independence supporters.

The party and other pro-independence groups vowed to stage demonstrations against Chen every day of his visit.

Chen and his Taiwan counterpart, Chiang Ping-kun, were expected to discuss and sign pacts on direct shipping, postal services, expansion of weekend charter flights and the safety of China's food exports to Taiwan. Chen was also expected to meet Ma on November 7. (dpa)