Department of Foreign Affairs. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday reiterated its commitment to the One China Policy as it tiptoed on the growing tensions between Beijing and Taipei following the successful presidential campaign of Taiwan’s democratic politician Lai Ching-te.
Lai has been repeatedly slammed by China for his supposedly “separatist” views as Beijing continued to claim Taiwan as its own.
READ: Taiwan’s presidential favorite wins election held under China’s glare
“The Department of Foreign Affairs reaffirms the principles contained in the Joint Communique of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the People’s Republic of China signed by President Ferdinand E. Marcos and Premier Zhou Enlai on 9 June 1975,” the DFA said in a statement.
The department explained that the Joint Communique signifies Manila and Beijing’s “agreement to settle all disputes by peaceful means…without resorting to the use or threat of force.”
China has previously vowed to “crush” any independent movement from Taiwan with Beijing’s Xi Jinping saying in his New Year’s message that reunification with Taipei is “inevitable.”
READ: China’s Xi Jinping says ‘reunification’ with Taiwan is inevitable
Also on Sunday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that any change that will take place in Taiwan is an “internal affair,” again claiming that the state is part of China.
“The basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change,” it said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” it added.
It then said that it believes that the international community will adhere to the one-China principle, and support the Chinese people’s “just cause” of opposing “Taiwan independence.”
The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. Whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change. The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) January 14, 2024
Meanwhile, on Thursday, around 39 million gallons of fuel were shipped from a United States military facility in Pearl Harbor to Subic in the Philippines.
This controversial move may have fueled suspicions about the “pre-positioning of military supplies in the country amid predictions of an eventual war between China and the US over Taiwan,” Filipino Senator Imee Marcos noted.