The Chinese Embassy in Manila rejected remarks by Senator Kiko Pangilinan criticizing China’s recent military drills around Taiwan, saying the comments run counter to the Philippines’ long-standing commitment to the one-China policy.
In a statement, the embassy described Pangilinan’s remarks as “wrongful” and urged Philippine officials to adhere to Manila’s official position recognizing China as the sole legitimate government of China. It said the Taiwan issue is an internal matter that “brooks no external interference.”
Pangilinan earlier warned that China’s two-day military drills encircling Taiwan unsettled not only the island but also Filipinos working and spending the holidays there, as well as countries across East and Southeast Asia. He framed the exercises as a threat to regional stability and to civilians caught amid rising tensions.
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” the Chinese Embassy said, adding that it opposes actions it sees as aiding separatism for Taiwanese independence.
“It is the season of goodwill, but China’s two-day military drills encircling Taiwan have brought ill will all around,” Pangilinan said in a statement released Thursday, January 1.
He rejected the idea that peace can be enforced through military pressure or great-power rivalry and warned against normalizing threats of invasion and large-scale war games in the region.
China closed the year with two days of live-fire military drills around Taiwan, which included missile launches and simulations of blockades of key ports. Taiwan condemned the exercises as highly provocative, while Beijing said they were aimed at deterring separatism and foreign interference.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring the self-governed island under its control.
The Philippines adheres to the one-China principle and maintains no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
President Bongbong Marcos has previously acknowledged the country’s vulnerable position in the event of a conflict across the Taiwan Strait, citing the Philippines’ proximity to Taiwan and the large number of Filipino workers on the island.
China earlier protested those remarks as “playing with fire,” while Marcos said he was stating a practical reality given the need to plan for the safety of Filipinos should hostilities break out.
