"Some people have urged me to scrap the National Unification Council and the Guidelines for National Unification and I felt we should seriously consider this," Chen said during a visit to southern Tainan county.

"The council and the guidelines pursue reunification and the later even accepted the so-called 'one China' principle. These are very problematic things," he said.

The independence-leaning Chen pledged during his inauguration in 2000 that he would uphold the council and the guidelines in one of his promises not to seek formal independence for the island.

He reiterated that promise in 2004 after he was narrowly reelected for a second and final term.

Opposition leader and Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou urged the president to keep his promises and not press ahead with the plan.

"President Chen said in 2000 that he would not abolish the council and the guidelines and he repeated that in 2004," Ma said.

"He would contradict his own serious promises and his credibility would be questioned if he does so," he said.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 after a civil war but Beijing still claims the island and threatens to invade if it formally declares independence.

Relations have worsened since Chen took office in 2000.

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