TAIPEI: Beijing's top envoy on Taiwan affairs is set to meet island leader Ma Ying-jeou today despite an opposition threat to "lay siege" to their meeting venue.

Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), is scheduled to meet Ma this afternoon at the Taipei Guest House, according to the agenda provided last night by the island's Straits Exchange Foundation.

Chen is the most senior mainland envoy to visit the island since 1949.