- TAIPEI, Taiwan: President Ma Ying-jeou says Taiwan's landmark trade agreement with China will bolster the island's economy without exposing it to immediate political pressure from Beijing.
The Economic Framework and Cooperation Agreement, signed Tuesday, is the most significant step to date in Ma's program of improving relations with Beijing.
It promises greater economic links between the sides and raises prospects for closer political bonds across the 100-mile- (160-kilometer) -wide Taiwan Strait.
Ma told a news conference Thursday that while Beijing might see the deal as a way to advance its goal of uniting with Taiwan, "the mainland side has indicated there was no rush to move into political issues." The two sides split amid civil war in 1949.