Taipei  - Taiwan president-elect Ma Ying-jeou was blasted Tuesday by both ruling and opposition politicians for choosing a pro-independence supporter as his China policymaker.

"Such an appointment is just absurd," said Chiu Yi, a legislator who like Ma is from the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT). "How can he ask an independence advocate to head the Mainland Affairs Council?"

Chiu said the appointment would only irritate China and stall talks on the launch of direct cross-strait flights and other cross-strait economic activities, which Ma is pushing.

Chiu's comments, which reflected the opinions of most of his colleagues from the China-friendly KMT, came after Ma on Monday named Lai Shin-yuan, a former parliamentarian with the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union, as chairwoman of the council.

Lai is known for her critical positions toward China and had held a number of protests against what she alleged as China's dumping of substandard goods in Taiwan. She has also criticized the KMT over its mainland-friendly positions.

KMT legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang said Tuesday that in his campaign leading up to the March 22 presidential election, Ma promised to engage China and liberalize cross-strait economic activities and investments.

"But apparently, Lai Shin-yuan has reservations over such a liberalization," he said. "It would only hurt Mr Ma's popularity if what he has promised could not be honoured because Lai puts the brake on cross-strait exchanges."

The Mainland Affairs Council is the island's top China policy planning body. Relations between Taipei and Beijing have been sour over the past eight years during the tenure of pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Beijing, which considers Taiwan an integral part of China that must be brought back into the Chinese fold, if necessary by force, has refused to deal with Chen.

Ma said Tuesday that he decided to appoint Lai because she supports his cross-strait stand and argued that her appointment could help increase public consensus on his China-engagement proposals.

He said that although more than 7 million Taiwan people voted for him, about 5 million whose political stands differ from his did not and he believes Lai's appointment could help bridge their differences.

But DPP parliamentarians said it was absurd for Ma to say that, given that Lai does not represent the DPP, and saying that she might become a rubber stamp for Ma's China-friendly policies. (dpa)