The remarks came after he said in an interview with CNN that Taipei "will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan" -- comments that sparked criticism from the island's pro-independence opposition.

Some politicians from the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party accused Ma of selling out to China.

"This accusation is nonsense," Ma said, according to a statement.

"I wanted to let the American people know that their support of Taiwan won't get them involved in any war with China... As a sovereign state, we must display our determination to defend ourselves."

The United States is required by law to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons, but it has never indicated it would fight on Taiwan's side in a war.

Ma, of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party, said that since he came to power Taiwan had served as a "peacemaker" in the region.

Nevertheless, he justified a continued military buildup as necessary to defend the island from China.

"We won't relax our preparations for a military buildup just because of improved ties with the mainland... because we know they still have more than 1,000 missiles targeting us."

Taiwan has governed itself since it split from China in 1949 at the end of a civil war. However, Beijing still considers the island part of its territory and refuses to renounce its use of force to take back the island.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News