Taipei  - In a move to shake off the shadow of Japan's colonial rule, Taiwan plans to stop using the Japanese governor-general's office as the presidential office building, president-elect Ma Ying-jeou said on Thursday.

Ma made the remark while calling on Professor Chen Fang-ming of the National Chengchih University. Chen is one of the scholars who has suggested that Taiwan move the Presidential Office from the former Japanese Government-General's Office and build a new presidential office building.

"Ma said that while he was the Taipei mayor, he was already considering this. Now he is considering building a new presidential office building in the Taipei suburb of Kuantu," Chen told reporters.

The current Presidential Office Building, situated in the centre of Taipei, was designed by the Japanese and served as Japan's Governor-General's Office during Japanese rule of Taiwan from 1895-1945.

When the Chinese Nationalist Government fled to Taiwan in 1949, after losing the Chinese Civil War, it began to use the Japanese Governor-General's Office as its Presidential Office Building.

Since then, five Taiwan presidents have served from the Presidential Office Building, despite calls from some scholars who claim it is a disgrace for the Taiwan president to serve in the office of the Japanese colonial ruler.

The Presidential Office Building is a six-storey red-brick building with a central tower, within walking distance to the Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry and the central bank. (dpa)