Further, he told foreign media that he has no plans to visit China in the near future, but aims at working on "substantive issues" first, including pursuing economic cooperation and signing a peace agreement to terminate the current state of hostility between Taipei and Beijing.

Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) standard-bearer Ma defeated Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by over 2 million votes during Saturday's presidential election.

To break the current deadlock across the Taiwan Strait, the new KMT administration will negotiate separate economic and peace agreements with China, he emphasized.

"We will sign a peace agreement with China to terminate the hostility across the Taiwan Strait," he went on, "I will explore the possibility of reaching consensus with China on the issue of our international space, including our bilateral and multilateral relations with other parts of the world."

Also, he indicated that allowing more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan and local banks to invest in China's financial market were also crucial to improving cross-strait ties.

In addition to opening talks with China, Ma proposed reopening negotiations on signing bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the U.S., Japan and Singapore.

He specifically condemned Chen Shui-bian's government for refusing to sign the deal under the formal name used by Taiwan at the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, and instead requesting to conclude the agreement under the name "Taiwan."

The previous FTA negotiation failed partly because of Chinese pressure, he explained.

"We are ready to resume negotiations with Singapore under the name we use in the WTO, if that is acceptable to Singapore."

Regarding the failed referendums held alongside the presidential election, he stressed that the government of the Republic of China actually withdrew from the United Nations in 1971, and expressed his willingness to be flexible on which title to use in apply to regain membership in the international body.

Entering the U.N. under the name of Taiwan was "tantamount to a disaster," he said. "It (the proposal) caused very important downgrading of the mutual trust between Taiwan and the U.S. and antagonized many of our friends in the U.N.," he contended.

Besides, the president-elect acknowledged he would welcome a pair of giant pandas offered by China to Taiwan people right after his inauguration, slated for May 20.

"We [have] already prepared our zoo for that purpose... we were ready, but because of political intervention we were not able to do that," he said.

Ma was mayor of Taipei in 2005 when China offered to send pandas to Taiwan as goodwill ambassadors following a historic visit to the mainland by former Vice President Lien Chan.

The male and female pandas on offer are named "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan," which together mean "unite."

However, then Premier Frank Hsieh eventually rejected the offer in 2006, amid pressure from radical DPP supporters who branded the animals a propaganda ploy.

"In the future we would certainly welcome" the animals, Ma said.

China has a long tradition of offering pandas as a way to soften ties with foreign governments, including the United States (1972) and the United Kingdom (1974).

On the other hand, Ma Ying-jeou restated that he would look over Chinese suppression of Tibetan protesters carefully in the upcoming months.

"If I become president ... well, I will become president," he told the laughing audience, he would continue on monitoring China's human rights record.

"If the situation in Tibet worsens, we would consider the possibility of not sending athletes to the Games," added the president-elect, who said he has attended each commemoration events of the bloody crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square since June 4, 1989.

"I did this out of a deep commitment to human rights," he continued. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on March 21 for "an independent, outside investigation" on the recent riots in Tibet, following a meeting with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalia Lama.

China has repeatedly called for the Olympics not to be politicized; but, the pro-independence DPP government already refused to let the Olympic Torch relay pass trough Taipei in September 2007, ahead of stops in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Ma said he would not reconsider that decision after taking office on March 20, because Chinese authorities have barred the government from flying Taiwan's national flag based on their interpretation of regulations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

"Mainland China insists wed don't fly our flag where the torch goes ... (we) cannot accept this," he said, lamenting that the IOC originally meant to bar flags from indoor sports events rather than the country as a whole.

The international torch relay will start today in Olympia, Greece where the Olympic flame will be lit, en route to various Asian capitals and then Beijing on Aug. 8.