Taiwan envoy says China trade pact ushers in 'new era'

One of China's largest cities rolled out the red carpet Monday for a senior Taiwanese envoy, ahead of the signing of a pact which he hailed as the start of a new era for the former bitter rivals.

Chiang Pin-kung was greeted by a sizeable delegation of Chinese officials as he arrived in Chongqing, the municipality in southwest China where he will sign the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) on Tuesday.

"The signing of ECFA will usher in a new era of mutual trust and negotiation for the two sides," said Chiang, who heads Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation.

Chen Yunlin, Chiang's Chinese counterpart, described the agreement as the culmination of a rapprochement set in motion in 2008, when the Beijing-friendly Ma Ying-jeou became president of self-ruled Taiwan.

"The fact that we can reach so many agreements in such a short period of time shows our efforts represent the interests on both sides," said Chen, head of the semi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

Taiwan and China have signed 12 agreements since 2008 on matters such as financial cooperation, but ECFA is seen as a much more critical step forward in the normalisation of economic ties between Taiwan and the mainland.

It will lead to preferential tariffs for more than 500 Taiwanese product categories in areas stretching from petrochemicals to textiles, while applying to about half as many Chinese items.

The Ma administration considers the pact a critical step to prevent economic isolation for Taiwan in a region where free-trade agreements are multiplying.

But Taiwan's anti-China opposition fears the agreement will erode the island's de-facto independence by leaving the island more reliant than ever on the fast-growing mainland economy.

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, although the island has governed itself since 1949 following a Chinese civil war.

Despite the improved atmosphere under Ma, China has still not given up on its goal of getting Taiwan back, by war if necessary.