DFA neither confirms nor denies visit of Taiwan foreign minister
A day after reiterating the Philippines’ commitment to its One-China policy, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday that it did not recognize any Taiwan official who may have been a part of a Taiwanese American business mission that visited the country recently.
“Consistent with the Philippines’ One-China Policy, no official from Taiwan is recognized as a member of the business delegation that recently visited the Philippines,” the DFA said in a statement on Friday.
The DFA statement neither confirmed nor denied that Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung is in the Philippines this week with a business delegation of Taiwanese and American businessmen.
The statement instead reiterated the Philippines’ commitment to the Joint Communique between the Philippines and China that was signed in 1975, the basis of the two country’s bilateral relations, but the DFA did say that it valued its economic ties with Taiwan, particularly in the areas of trade, investment and tourism, that are “within the bounds of our One-China policy.”
Prior to 1975, the Republic of China (Taiwan) maintained an embassy in the Philippines in consideration of the number of Taiwanese visitors, estimated to now number more than 230,000 each year, to the country.
Stake in peace
“The Philippines has a direct interest in peace and stability in the region. We therefore continue to call for restraint and dialogue,” it added. There are about 200,000 Filipino workers and residents in Taiwan, according to DFA data.
DFA spokesperson Angelica Escalona also told reporters on Friday that the DFA is no longer issuing further comments on the supposed presence of Lin in the country.
The DFA issued the statement after Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro stressed that the Philippines” do[es] not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state” and that any political conflict between Taiwan and China should be resolved among themselves.
During the hearing of the Senate foreign affairs committee on Thursday, Sen. Erwin Tulfo raised the need for the Philippines to reconsider its One-China policy because Beijing no longer shows “respect” for the Philippines.
“We follow the One China Policy here, so they say ‘don’t interfere’—but what about us? What about our rights? Our rights in the West Philippine Sea,” Tulfo said.
