The Presidential Office discounted Friday a local columnist's accusation that the Ma Ying-jeou administration was 'timid in making remarks or statements that may offend Beijing.' Columnist Wang Chien-chuang leveled the charge in a column published in the Chinese-language daily China Times Thursday, and he also argued that the Ma administration 'should not surrender its discourse rights to Beijing.' But Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said the argument was off base. 'President Ma Ying-jeou has on many occasions spoken out on issues on cross- strait relations and has never relinquished his right of speech,' Wang Yu-chi said. The columnist, who was once the president of the China Times, also wrote that the Ma administration's cross-strait policy of 'no unification, no independence and no use of force' actually has a fourth 'no' -- 'no talking' -- that represents not talking about subjects that may offend Beijing. Wang Yu-chi defended the president by arguing that Ma has twice made public remarks on anniversaries of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Incident to protest the Beijing leadership's suppression of democracy. President Ma has also expressed his opinions publicly on Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo's being sentenced, Wang Yu-chi added. The columnist also accused the Ma administration of talking only about the 'different interpretations' part of its policy of 'one China with different interpretations, ' but it had never touched on the essence of 'one China.' Wang Yu-chi responded that while Beijing often plays up the 'one China' policy, Taiwan should stress the importance of 'different interpretations' of the policy to safeguard Taiwan's identity. 'President Ma has persistently insisted on Taiwan's national identity, despite Beijing's displeasure,' he noted. 