Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou said on Tuesday that forces of nature rather than China might be the island's main enemy in the future after Typhoon Morakot killed more than 120 people.

"In the future, the armed forces of this country will have disaster prevention and rescue as their main job," he told reporters.

"Now our enemy is not necessarily people across the Taiwan Strait but nature," Ma said.

Ma made the remarks amid public anger over the government's slow response to the devastation caused by Typhoon Morakot after it struck on 8 August.

Taiwan and China are still technically at war despite a dramatic improvement in cross-strait ties after Ma came to power last year.

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AFP

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