The Presidential Office says that a national affairs conference being held in Taiwan must not exclude the president.
Presidential spokesman Chen I-hsin made the comments on Friday. He was responding to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has spoken against the idea of President Ma Ying-jeou convening a national affairs conference.
The national affairs conference brings together the ruling and the opposition parties and representatives of the private sector to discuss important policy directions.
The presidential spokesman said that former Presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian both convened national affairs conferences. He also said that it has become a convention for the president to convene such conferences.