Signed in 2010 by China and Taiwan, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) sets out a road map to a comprehensive free trade agreement covering most aspects of economic relations between the two countries, whose relations are complicated by contentious political questions over the status of Taiwan as renegade province of China or as independent country. Rosen (Columbia U. School of International and Public Affairs) and Wang (a research economist with the US International Trade Commission) analyze the implications of the ECFA for the two countries and beyond, combining relatively narrow modeling of immediate economic effects with more qualitative assessment of implications for region-wide economic liberalization; the geoeconomic significance of deeper Chinese-Taiwanese economic cooperation for the United States; and policy implications for policymakers in Taipei, Beijing, and Washington. Annotation 2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
