President Ma's guiding principle in cross-Taiwan Strait policy is to safeguard national sovereignty and advance the people's welfare, therefore, such a meeting would only take place amid greater mutual goodwill and trust and if there is consensus among the Taiwan people, Wu said.

Asked by a legislator to explain on President Ma's statement Monday that he would not exclude the possibility of meeting with China's leaders, Wu said the government's cross-strait policies must be implemented at a steady pace over the long term, rather than being rushed or slowed down.

For example, Wu said, if the Taiwan government does not allow some enterprises to set up in China, they may lose their market share. However, enterprises that move to China too soon may lose their bases in Taiwan and hurt the Taiwan economy, he added.

Wu said he cannot project a timetable for any meeting between Ma and Hu, as both sides have to work to build greater trust and goodwill.

In addition, if there is no public consensus on the matter, it would be impossible to talk about a meeting between the two leaders any time soon, he stressed.

President Ma, who assumed chairmanship of his ruling Kuomintang (KMT) last Saturday, told Reuters in an interview Monday that he would not exclude the possibility of meeting Chinese leaders one day. "I won't exclude that possibility, but there's no timetable for that yet," Ma said.