Ma made the remarks when asked by L'espresso if the fact that the United States sitting by and watching the Russian occupation of Georgian territory was an indication the U.S. cannot protect its lesser allies. The interview was conducted Aug. 22 in Taipei and was published Friday in the latest issue of the magazine.

Ma said the policy choice by the United States in dealing with the Georgia issue is not new, and pointed out that Washington responded similarly to Russia's attack on Chechnya in the 1990s.

However, the cross-strait situation is different, Ma argued.

He noted that the Taiwan Relations Act enacted by the United States in 1979 is a piece of formal legislation under which the United States makes available items necessary for Taiwan to maintain adequate defense capability.

Furthermore, over the past 20 years, a wide-ranging socio-economic network has been established across the Taiwan Strait, which is sufficient to repair any form of hostility between the two sides, according to the president. Both sides have also expressed the desire to forge a peace treaty if possible, he said.

He said it is time for Taiwan and China to seriously consider working out a peaceful resolution to their differences after decades of confrontation. Ma renewed his proposal that China remove its missiles targeted at Taiwan as a gesture of goodwill to pave the way for cross-strait peace talks.