TAIPEI - TAIWANESE President Ma Ying-jeou has said he has no immediate plans to meet Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to discuss political issues between the once-bitter foes, state media reported on Monday.

'There is nothing imminent about such a meeting,' the Central News Agency quoted Mr Ma as saying during a transit stop in Hawaii.

'Economic issues will dominate our exchange agenda for now.' While Harvard-educated Ma has moved quickly to improve economic ties with China during his 14 months in office, he has said repeatedly he will not discuss unification or the island's political status during the remainder of his presidency. That would last until mid-2016 if he is re-elected.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. The communist mainland still views the democratic island as part of its territory, to be brought back into the fold by force if necessary.

Following Mr Ma's emergence as the only candidate in upcoming elections for Nationalist Party chairman, prominent party officials including the mayor of Taipei urged Mr Ma to meet Mr Hu at an early date, wearing his chairman's hat, rather than that of president.

Such an arrangement would circumvent complex issues of disputed sovereignty that would prevent a meeting between the two as heads of state.

Since 2005 the Communists and Nationalists have held regular conclaves, jettisoning decades of mutual hostility. -- AP