President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is not endorsing Taiwanese independence as he upheld the country’s One China policy.
In an interview with 24 Oras, the President said he congratulated Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te on X (formerly Twitter) as a “common courtesy” as the latter also did the same when Mr. Marcos won in the 2022 presidential elections.
“My take on that is very simple. He greeted me when I became president so what do you do? It’s just common courtesy that you do the same for them. That’s really where it came from,” he said.
“The One China policy remains in place. We have adhered to the One China policy strictly and conscientiously since we adopted the One China policy, and that has not changed. That will not change.”
“We are not endorsing Taiwanese independence. Taiwan is a province of China but the manner in which they will be brought together again is an internal matter. All we want is peace, that there will be no conflict,” he added.
Mr. Marcos’ congratulatory message drew sharp rebuke from Beijing, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning advising him to “read more books to properly understand the ins and outs of the Taiwan issue.”
Beijing also summoned Philippine Ambassador to China Jame FlorCruz to protest the President’s message.
In deference to the One China policy, Manila does not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a democratic self-ruling island which has been separated from the Chinese mainland since 1949.
But the Philippines maintains a de-facto embassy in Taiwan, called the Manila Economic and Cultural Office or MECO.
Taiwan hosts around 200,000 Filipinos, mostly working in factories.