Ma "deliberately works to create [his] charisma," Lee said.
When asked to comment on Lee's remarks, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said that his party respect any decision Lee would make but that he could not comment on Lee's opinions.
Priority
Ma, however, lauded Lee's comments, and said he expected more political leaders to make Taiwan's future their priority.
"Making Taiwan's future and public interests a priority has always been the KMT's policy. We will be more than happy if political leaders like Lee agree with us," Ma said.
Commenting on Lee saying that he hoped to visit China, Ma said the situation in Taiwan would have been better if Lee had made such a move five or six years ago.
But Ma dismissed Lee's comment that he lacked both resolve and courage, adding that he would like to visit the former president if possible.
In Beijing, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office refused to comment on Lee's reportedly hopes of visiting China.
At a regular scheduled news conference, Yang Yi (楊毅) said only that "we have noticed that report," when asked about Lee's comments.
Yang also declined to comment on reports that Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would visit China after the Lunar New Year holiday to attend a ceremony marking the establishment of a "national association of Taiwanese enterprises" in China.
Yang said Beijing was willing to have contact with any individual or organization in Taiwan as long as they acknowledged Beijing's "one China" policy and the so-called "1992 consensus" for talks on the development of cross-strait relations and on "eventual peaceful reunification of the two sides."
No consensus
The "1992 consensus" refers to the cross-strait meeting held in Hong Kong in November 1992.
The KMT has long insisted that a consensus was reached at that meeting that both sides should adhere to the "one China" principle, but with each side agreeing to its own interpretation.
Eleven months ago KMT Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) admitted he made up the term "1992 consensus" in 2000 before the transfer of power.
When asked about his reported comment that he was interested in traveling across the Strait, Lee told TVBS last night: "I did not say I wanted to visit China."
"[Such a visit] is unnecessary," he added.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih, staff writer and CNA
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