Taipei - Taiwan's pro-independence groups rallied tens of thousands anti-China and anti-government supporters in Taipei Saturday to protest President Ma Ying-jeou's pro-China policies and the island's economic downturn.

"Opposing toxic China, defending Taiwan," the protesters shouted as they marched along the streets of the capital's bustling centre from five directions towards the Presidential Office, where they staged a demonstration against the Ma government.

Some held effigies of Ma while others unfurled banners reading "Taiwan, go, go, go," or "Ma Ying-jeou step down."

Chief organizer, the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, claimed 500,000 protesters showed up for the protest against what they called Ma's selling out of Taiwan's interests to China and inability to improve Taiwan's economy.

Police authorities deployed more than 5,000 officers to ensure that the protest would not turn into a riot, especially after former president Chen Shui-bian, who also joined the march, received a death threat a day before the protest.

Although police authorities arrested a male suspect Friday night only to find out that the death threat was a hoax, they remained on high alert, mindful of the shooting of Chen during his re-election campaign in 2004.

Chen was slightly injured in the 2004 attack, but the incident won him sympathy votes and he was re-elected for another four-year term which ended in May.

Chen, who insisted on joining the march despite his withdrawal from the party in August following his implication in a 21-million- US-dollar money-laundering scandal, stole the spotlight from the organizers by rallying thousands of his supporters, who shouted "Chen Shui-bian, go, go, go" throughout the march.

The organizers originally hoped that Chen would not show up so as not to shift the protest theme to the string of alleged corruption scandals tied to Chen by the Ma government.

Chen, whose implication in the scandals has seriously tarnished the DPP's image, has claimed that the probes are a political witch- hunt by the Ma government. His supporters have also insisted that Chen is innocent.

"Regardless of what he did, I give my full support to him," one of his supporters shouted as Chen reached a gate near the protest venue and waved at the crowd.

Chen stopped at the gate for 20 minutes before leaving the protest, much to the delight of the organizers.

DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, who led the protest, said the demonstration was necessary to warn the Ma government against leaning too far towards China.

"The protest today is a warning to the Ma government. We don't like his policies. Not only is he incompetent in lifting the sagging economy, but he is also adopting a policy which would result in Taiwan losing its sovereignty to China," she told the rally.

Ma took office in May after his Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) swept back into power in the March 22 presidential elections, ending the DPP's eight-year rule.

Ma has denied selling out Taiwanese interests to China, claiming that he is trying to ease cross-strait tension and revitalize Taiwan's economy.

"Just like my election campaign pledge, I am not selling out Taiwan's interests to China, but trying to sell Taiwan fruit to China," Ma said at a farm-product promotional fair in Taipei Saturday.

Public opinion polls have shown that most Taiwanese approve of Ma's mending ties with China, but complain about the economy.

Polls show the majority of Taiwanese accept Ma's stance that the island, which split from China in 1949, should maintain its status quo and let future generations decide whether to seek formal independence from or reunification with the mainland. (dpa)