President Ma Ying-jeou was cited by his spokesman as calling the anti-secession law "unnecessary and unfeasible" on the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the provision.

"The Chinese authorities should carefully consider the feelings of the Taiwan people, and take proper steps to handle this law," presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi quoted Ma as saying.

"We believe the Chinese authorities are wise enough to know how to deal with it properly," Wang said.

Wang said the peaceful development of cross-strait ties should be a reciprocal process where the two sides interact with each other with goodwill.

"The matter should not be decided by the Chinese authorities unilaterally or non-peacefully," he said.

The Cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) made it clear that Taiwan hopes China can abolish the law and remove hundreds of missiles targeting Taiwan.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Tibetans and opposition leaders and supporters marched through downtown Taipei to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against the Chinese communists.

Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party, said the biggest threat for Tibet and Taiwan is China.

DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang said the demonstration was meant to highlight the need to defend freedom and democracy in Taiwan.

He said the DPP administration had designated March 14 as "Anti-aggression Day" to underscore China's military threat.

But the Ma administration has been only paying lip service without taking any concrete steps address China's military threat.

Beijing adopted the law in 2005 to authorize the use of "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan should the island declare independence.

It was enacted less than a year after the pro-independence Chen Shui-bian was elected to a second presidential term, prolonging cross-strait tensions.

The Chen administration also indicated that the number of Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan continued growing. But cross-strait tensions have eased since Ma took office in May. Ma has been advocating closer ties with China as a way to revitalize Taiwan's economy.

The MAC said in a statement that the Ma administration, over the past nine months, has been promoting cross-strait peace and prosperity.

But the anti-secession law is totally unacceptable to the people of Taiwan and inconsistent with Beijing's advocacy of peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

The MAC said annulling the "outdated" anti-secession law is key to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait to create a "win-win" situation.

"The communist Chinese authorities should adopt a more positive attitude in the face of the changing cross-strait situation and rule out the use of force against Taiwan," the MAC said.

But some scholars said the Ma administration's call for China to annul its anti-secession law is no more than a gesture meant for the local audience, and is unlikely to catch Beijing's attention.

Wang Kun-yi, a professor from Tamkang University in Taipei, said it is possible for Beijing to get rid of the anti-secession law.

The Presidential Office's call is meaningless, the professor said during a forum in Taipei on the anti-secession law and cross-strait ties.

Another participant, Wang Si-wei, a scholar from Nanhua University, said it is "naive" of the Presidential Office to make such a call.

If Beijing understood the feelings of the Taiwan people, it would not have come up with the anti-secession legislation in the first place.

"The Presidential Office's call is only a gesture for Taiwan internally. For China, it means nothing," said the Nanhua scholar.

He said it is not enough for Taipei to show Beijing goodwill, as it must also work out ways to show Beijing that such a law will also hurt China's interest.