Inevitable to talk about Taiwan Strait at Asean Summit — Bongbong Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said it is inevitable that the Taiwan Strait issue will be discussed during the 42nd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Discussion on the matter, he said, will be unavoidable since it is a “grave concern” to all Asean member-states.

“Parang inevitable eh. Unavoidable ‘yung subject matter na ‘yun dahil pare-pareho na mga miyembro ng Asean. Siyempre it is a grave concern to all the member-states of Asean,” Marcos said in an interview in Indonesia when asked if the Taiwan issue would be discussed during the summit.

(It seems inevitable. The subject matter is unavoidable since it is a grave concern to all member-states of the Asean.)

“So it’s considering that we also agree on the concept of Asean Centrality when it comes to regional concerns that will be one of the most important subjects that we’ll bring up,” he added.

Marcos said there is a need to “really recalibrate” the discussions on how to address the Taiwan Strait issue since “many changes” to the situation have occurred.

“The discussions on that we had goes to a year ago, in that time marami nang nagbago, many changes occurred, that is why we have to really calibrate whatever it is that we are planning,” he said.

“So, yes, there’s no way around it. That will inevitably be a part of the conversation that we’ll be having tomorrow and the day after,” the President added.

Marcos arrived on Tuesday in Labajo, Indonesia, to attend the 42nd Asean Summit.

During his trip to Washington, Marcos and US President Joe Biden affirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an “indispensable element of global security and prosperity.”

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JPV