Taiwanese old enough to remember the dark days of martial law would be forgiven for a sense of dread at security measures for this week`s historic talks on closer ties with China, local media said Tuesday.

Describing the presence on Taipei`s streets of up to 7,000 police to ensure the safety of Beijing`s envoy Chen Yunlin and his delegation of 60 officials and business people, the Taipei Times said he `must have felt right at home`.

`Police are not only protecting the envoy, but also muzzling freedom of speech by forbidding people from displaying the national flag, banners with political content or symbols of Chinese oppression such as the Tibetan flag,` the pro-independence newspaper said in its editorial.

Chen arrived in Taipei Monday for five days of talks aimed at moving the two sides, estranged for the six decades since the Chinese civil war, closer economically.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) lost the war in 1949 and fled to the island, where they maintained an often-brutal martial law until 1987.

Media reaction to the talks was mixed, reflecting the obvious allegiances of Taiwan`s newspapers and broadcasters.

`Chen`s visit marks not only a historic step forward in the cross-Strait relationship but also the beginning of more exchanges,` said the pro-KMT China Times.

Officials said Tuesday that talks are likely to continue in Beijing in the first half of 2009, following the apparent success of the meetings in forging deals on trade, transport and tourism across the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the two sides.

Newspapers generally agreed the talks would defuse hostilities that have sometimes come close to war, but the KMT government was roundly criticised for appearing to compromise Taiwan`s sovereignty and standards to ensure success.

`In effect, Chen Yunlin`s visit represents Beijing`s assertion of its dominance over Taiwan,` said the Taiwan News, known for its pro-independence stance.

Liberty Times, Taiwan`s biggest pro-independence newspaper, agreed, saying the pro-Beijing KMT had humiliated Taiwanese people and sacrificed their `country`s dignity`.

It referred to the removal of Taiwan`s `blue sky and white sun` national flag from the streets and around the negotiation venue.

The Chinese-language China Times said the government had over-reacted to demonstrations by supporters of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.

`Since Taiwan is a free and democratic country and people have the right to freedom of assembly, the government has no right to stop people from voicing their opinions,` it said.

The negotiations proved that `the Kuomintang and the Chinese communist party are conspiring to work out a timetable to sell out Taiwan,` it said.