nbsp and copy-of and output xml

Hi there,

first thanks for the reply to my problem. But your solution results 
into the next problem: 


OK, summary: 

I can not use "copy-of" with output="xml" because "&nbsp" will not be
displayed.

Instead (before I transformed with jdom, now with xalan) I use 
output="html"

Nice, BUT: the result is invalid html because in empty tags it does not
close the tag. 

Solution (as suggested in many forums): use output="xml" or output="xhtml"
for 2.0 which closes the tags - BUT THIS brings me to problem one.

Also - instead writing 
<div /> 
- the solution to write  
<div><!-- closetag --></div>

brings html-validator errors "the tag should be empty" 

Any workaround - professional solutions for that.

Aprreciate this 

Holm