By warning that Filipinos working in Taiwan would be jeopardized if the Philippines does not reject the independence of Taiwan from China is a vivid indication that China is desperate and panicking what with the presence of Americans and allies participating in the Balikatan military exercises that China suspects is aimed towards it.
Either way, China is spreading itself thinly—it has forces deployed near Taiwan and others in the vastness of the West Philippine Sea—and just one misfire could lead to a full-blown test of military might among allies of each camp.
The test of wits is more intense in Taiwan where China—Asia’s military and economic power—has been holding missile drills to make the independent state bend. But the US and other European countries would not allow Taiwan’s return to China.
Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian in a forum on Friday by the Association for Philippine-China Understanding, warned that the safety and welfare of 150,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan could be jeopardized if Manila would not oppose the island’s independence from Beijing.
He warned that the Philippines would be embroiled in the China-Taiwan conflict by letting US forces use its military bases, particularly those close to Taiwan. “The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose ‘Taiwan independence’ rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWS,” Huang said.
The United States military now has access to nine Philippine military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between Manila and Washington. The United States was recently given access to two bases in Cagayan and another in Isabela, two of the country’s northernmost provinces close to Taiwan.
Huang said: “Obviously, the US intends to take advantage of the new EDCA sites to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its geopolitical goals, and advance its anti-China agenda at the expense of peace and development of the Philippines and the region at large.”
“We will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities,” he added.
The “Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair” just like the “Mindanao issue,” a reference to the former Muslim separatist movement in the southern Philippines. You will never allow any third party to meddle with resolving rebel issues in Mindanao,” Huang said.
The ambassador was mistaken. In fact, both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government had sought the help of Malaysia, Indonesia, and several other countries to resolve the decades long rebellion, which resulted in a peace deal in 2014 and the creation of a new Muslim autonomous region, Inquirer reported.
“Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Huang’s comparison of the Philippines to China’s situation was misplaced and baseless, and that Mindanao was “totally different” from Taiwan.”
“Muslim Mindanao (Bangsamoro Region) is a region in the Philippines, an enhanced autonomous one. Taiwan has been a republic, an independent country, since 1949, when the Kuomintang was forced to leave China by the Communists. It is a free and democratic country. The EDCA sites are not meant to be an interference in the Taiwan issue, he added.”
“It is not about conflict against China but a deterrence against China’s continuous illegal encroachments and violations of the sovereign rights of the Philippines over our 200-mile exclusive economic zone, the West Philippine Sea,” Rodriguez explained.
He noted that China refused to follow international maritime law and the 2016 international arbitral ruling, which nullified China’s nine-dash-line claim over nearly the entire South China Sea.
“The four new Edca bases, including the three in Cagayan Valley, are intended “to deter China and protect the Philippines” under the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty “against China’s illegal intrusions” into the West Philippine Sea, Rodriguez said.”
Sen. JV Ejercito blasted Huang for making “threats” and practically holding Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan hostage.
Ejercito told Inquirer: “Why does the Chinese government always make threats on a supposed ‘friend’ just because we are establishing alliances with other right-thinking nations.”
He pointed out that China had been “consistently encroaching and have, in fact, taken control of our territorial waters, disrespecting our sovereignty.”
“Ejercito said it would be “useless” for the DFA to ask Huang to clarify his statement if the hundreds of diplomatic protests against Chinese incursions in Philippine waters had been “falling on deaf ears. One thing for sure: It’s difficult to trust the Chinese government.”
Huang told Friday’s forum that China was committed to strengthening dialogue with the Philippines to resolve their dispute in the South China Sea, bringing in “external forces” would just complicate matters and put regional peace and security at risk.
A United States Navy guided-missile destroyer (USS Millius) cruised near a Chinese man-made military outpost in WPS for a ‘freedom of navigation operation’ within 22 kilometers of Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, a Chinese military base located within the Philippine EEZ.
The US Navy mission took place as China was expected to conclude the third day of its military exercises around Taiwan and as the Philippines and the United States were set to begin their largest ever military exercises on Tuesday.