President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was evasive yesterday when asked if a planned economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing would lead to a “one China market,” but said the pact would eventually establish “something similar to a free-trade area.”

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait would form such an area in the spirit of the WTO, which both countries belong to, Ma said in an interview with the Taipei Times.