Wang Yu-chi said the president believed in maintaining 'the status quo' under which the two territories are ruled separately, unless a majority of islanders vote for change.

The spokesman's comments came after Mr Ma was quoted in a recent interview with Taipei-based CommonWealth magazine as saying he would not 'rule out' the pursuit of a unified China.

The remarks sparked speculation that Mr Ma was moving toward's Beijing's goal of reunification, 60 years after the two sides split at the end of a bitter civil war.

But Mr Wang on Wednesday said the comments had been taken out of context.

'What he was trying to say was that Taiwan's future should be voted on by the 23 million people here,' he told reporters. 'Like a great majority of the locals, he wants to sustain the status quo of the Taiwan Strait,' he said.

Mr Ma has repeatedly pledged that during his tenure he would not press for either reunification or formal independence, while stressing that both sides should avoid the use of force to solve the decades-old dispute.

Beijing's official stance on self-governing Taiwan is that the island is part of China awaiting full reunification, by force if necessary.

However, ties between the two sides have improved dramatically since Mr Ma came to power last year promising to promote reconciliation and trade links, in marked contrast to his predecessor, Chen Shui-ban, whose regular pro-independence rhetoric irked Beijing.

In recent months Taipei and Beijing have signed a raft of agreements that have led to regular direct flights and greater cooperation across the Taiwan strait. -- AFP