The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), to be signed in the mainland's southwestern city of Chongqing, could unlock massive trade opportunities lying dormant because of existing rules.

But many Taiwanese fear it could also chip away at the island's hard-won de facto independence.

"It adds to the concerns about the agreement that it could bring the island a step closer to the mainland," said Yang Yung-ming, a political scientist at Taipei's Soochow University.

"As Taipei becomes more reliant on Beijing economically, its political options could be reduced."

This is a scenario few Taiwanese would relish, as survey after survey has shown a majority on the island prefers the status quo of prosperous self-rule.

But even though Taiwan has been its own master since the end of a civil war in 1949, China considers the island part of its territory and has never renounced the potential use of military force as a way of getting it back.

The Taiwanese government under Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, in power since 2008, is keenly aware that its policy of rapprochement towards China could trigger fears in a public worried about Beijing's real intentions.

To counter such concerns, which have not decreased ahead of Tuesday's signing of the ECFA, Taiwanese officials have underscored the peace that has descended on the Taiwan Straits under Ma.

"We have allowed the peaceful development between the two sides to take a stride forward," top Taiwanese envoy Chiang Pin-kung said on his arrival in Chongqing Monday.

"The tension of the past has turned into peace. The confrontation has become cooperation."

While the jury is still out on the political implications of the ECFA, debate is raging in Taiwan even on the economic benefits of the agreement.

The deal will confer preferential tariffs, and in some cases zero tariffs, on 539 Taiwanese products from petrochemicals and auto parts to machinery -- representing 16 percent of the island's total export value to China.

At the same time, only about 267 Chinese items, or 10.5 percent of China's export value to Taiwan, will be placed on the "early harvest" list enjoying zero or falling tariffs.

China is giving the impression that it has bent over backwards to accommodate Taiwan, seeing the island's 23 million people as "family."

"Of course, the basic position for each side in the talks was to give as little as possible and gain as much as possible," said Tang Yonghong, an economist specialising in Taiwan at Xiamen University in southeast China.

"Nevertheless, China was concerned about the impact of ECFA on Taiwan's society, and it's expressed this concern by taking Taiwan's interests into consideration to the greatest extent possible."

China itself has pointed out that it is a deal "unbalanced" in Taiwan's favour, and President Ma's administration has said the pact will create 260,000 jobs on the island and boost growth by up to 1.7 percentage points.

But the opposition is not convinced, blasting the agreement as an economic bullet in the foot.

"The ECFA will benefit big corporations rather than the general public, labour or small businesses," Ma's old boss, ex-president Lee Teng-hui, said at a huge anti-ECFA rally in Taipei Saturday. "It is wrong and it will hurt Taiwan."

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