TAIPEI (AFP) - A Taiwanese politician from a party favouring independence from China has been convicted of pushing mainland envoy to the ground in an incident that infuriated Beijing, a court said Tuesday.

Wang Ting-yu, a city councillor in the southern city of Tainan, received a four-month jail sentence for assault from the district court there on Monday, 11 months after the incident.

He has the option to appeal or, as an alternative to jail, pay a fine of 1,000 Taiwan dollars (31 US dollars) daily for four months.

Zhang Mingqing, the vice president of China's quasi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, was shoved to the ground by a crowd when he visited Tainan, a centre of anti-mainland feeling, in October last year.

'"In order to voice his independence and sovereignty claim, the defendant pushed and shoved Zhang Mingqing even though he was aware that Zhang could get hurt,'" court spokesman Wu Yung-hui told AFP.

The incident was caught on camera and triggered fury in Beijing, with the Chinese government calling for '"severe punishment'" of those found guilty.

But Wang, from the Democratic Progressive Party, pleaded not guilty and said he would appeal.

'"The ruling is ridiculous as the court could not demonstrate that I've hurt him,'" Wang said, according to cable news network TVBS.

The incident and legal proceedings came as Taiwan is seeking to improve relations with China, following the election last year of the Beijing-friendly Ma Ying-jeou as the island's president.

Zhang's semi-official association is authorised by Beijing to handle civilian exchanges with Taiwan in the absence of official contacts between the two sides.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 following a civil war, but Beijing regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.