Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou demanded an investigation Thursday into comments allegedly made by a former general suggesting the island's military owed as much loyalty to Beijing as Taipei.

According to a report, retired General Hsia Ying-chou, ex-vice chief of the air force general staff, said on a visit to China: "We should not distinguish the Nationalist and Communist armies from now on as we are all Chinese armies."

Tensions have lingered between Taiwan and China since the Nationalist troops led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war on the mainland and set up a rival government.

Ties have improved markedly since Ma came to power in 2008 vowing to boost trade and tourism with China, but military issues remain sensitive for the former bitter rivals.

"President Ma is shocked and saddened by this controversy. He asks relevant units to continue probing this incident and to condemn (the general) if the reports are proven true," the leader's office said in a statement.

Ma is seeking reelection in the January 2012 polls against the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a vocal critic of his Beijing-friendly policies.

"The retired general's remarks seriously hurt Taiwan's national dignity and military morale. Ma should take the utmost responsibility as the general is following his pro-China stance," the DPP said in a statement.

The party also demanded the government revoke pensions and other perks for "disloyal" generals to save taxpayers' money.

Hsia, who is currently in China, reportedly denied making the comments and threatened to sue the United Daily News newspaper, which carried them, if it does not apologise to him.

The official China News Service, in a report filed from Beijing on Monday, cited a People's Liberation Army general attributing identical remarks to an unnamed Taiwanese retired general.

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