MAC says Hsieh visit to China would be illegal

However, Ma responded later yesterday saying he had no plan to visit China at the moment.

Ma said he would not travel to China except in the capacity of Taipei mayor.

Meanwhile, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said any comment on a possible China visit by him is premature at this point.

Wang's remark came in the wake of media reports that China's semi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) plans to invite Wang for a visit in the capacity of the speaker of the "Chinese Taiwan" legislature.

China has also invited Taiwan legislators to visit there, while opposition lawmakers try to sideline President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inter-party cross-strait policy task force by setting up another policy team at the Legislative Yuan.