Taipei- Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou reiterated Monday he will not discuss unification with China during his term.

"When I took office on May 20, 2008, I announced that Taiwan would maintain its policy of not seeking independence or unification," Ma said in an interview with the China Television Co. "Hereby, I repeat that during my term, either four years or eight yeas, we will not discuss unification with China."

Ma's four-year term ends 2012, but he can serve a second term if re-elected.

Ma also said he currently has no plan to visit China or meet with Chinese leaders.

Regarding the cross-strait talks, Ma said his priority is to discuss easy issues first and tough issues later, and also economic issues first and political ones later.

Since Ma's inauguration, Taiwan and China held three rounds of talks and launched sea, air, tourism and postal links.

While many Taiwanese are happy with the thaw in relations with China, some fear that Taiwan is moving too close to China and might fall into China's "trap," by allowing China to control Taiwan's economy and eventually enforce unification.

China sees Taiwan, seat of the exiled Republic of China's government since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, as its breakaway province.

But Taiwan claims it is a sovereign nation, currently recognized by 23 nations.

Last week Beijing announced that Chinese residents are allowed to use travel permits to the territory of Hong Kong also for travelling to Taiwan, raising fears in Taiwan that China defines Taiwan as an autonomous region of China, just like Hong Kong. (dpa)