Protesters tried to storm parliament in Taiwan overnight as the island’s leader Ma Ying-jeou left for a historic summit in Singapore with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The meeting will be the first between leaders of the two sides since their 1949 split following the Chinese civil.

Closer ties with China have sparked fears over Beijing’s growing influence with President Ma’s opponents accusing him of selling out Taiwan by attending the summit.

The meeting comes ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in Taiwan in which the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is favoured to win, something Beijing is desperate to avoid.

The Nationalists, also known as the Kuomintang (KMT), retreated to Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Communists, who are still in charge in Beijing.

Taiwan has never formally declared independence from Beijing, which sees it as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Around 100 protesters tried to storm the heavily-guarded parliament building in Taipei carrying “Taiwan independence” banners, but were stopped by police.

There were no arrests.