Marcos: War in Taiwan to drag PH into conflict
Reacting to China’s remark that he was “playing with fire” for saying earlier the Philippines would “inevitably” get involved should war break out between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan, President Marcos said on Monday that he was “just stating facts.”
“We do not want to go to war. But I think, if there is a war over Taiwan … whether we like it or not, we will be drawn and dragged into that mess,” the President said in a press conference at Malacañang.
He explained that what he meant by his statement was that the Philippines has already drafted a plan to safely evacuate the around 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan, should the conflict between the United States and China escalate.
‘Kicking and screaming’
“We cannot just leave them (OFWs) there. We will have to do something. So inevitably, despite our fervent wish to avoid any confrontation with anybody, anywhere, a war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict,” he said.
He made the remarks amid heightened tension between the Philippines and China over overlapping claims in the South China Sea, particularly the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea despite a 2016 arbitral win that nullified its sweeping claims over the body of water, including the WPS, which is within the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
According to Mr. Marcos, his words were being “misinterpreted for propaganda purposes,” leaving him “a little bit perplexed” over why China would characterize his words as provocative.
The President noted that the budget used by the government to defend the WPS could have been spent on social programs such as housing and job creation.
“But we have to do this because we are under threat. We are forced to do this. We do not want to do this,” he said.
“We do not want any kind of confrontation with anyone. We want to build a better, stronger, freer, safer Philippines. That’s what we are working for,” he added.
In an Aug. 6 interview with news media Firstpost on the sidelines of his state visit to India last week, President Marcos was asked if he would allow the United States to use Philippine resources and bases to defend Taiwan from China.
“To be very practical about it, if there is a confrontation over Taiwan between China and the United States, there is no way that the Philippines can stay out of it simply because of our physical geographic location,” he replied indirectly.
“And so if you, if you think about it, if there is an all-out war, then we will be drawn into it,” he said.
Taiwan, a US ally that is also the Philippines’ closest neighbor, is seen as a potential flash point of armed conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. Security experts have warned that China will invade it within the decade, and should conflict escalate further in Taiwan, the Philippine government’s priority would be to protect and bring home its OFWs.
Humanitarian problem
“There are many, many Filipino nationals in Taiwan and that would immediately be a humanitarian problem,” the President said.
In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strongly worded statement on Aug. 8, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and urging it to uphold the “one China” principle.
“‘Geographical proximity’ and ‘large overseas populations’ are not excuses for a country to interfere in the internal affairs of others,” it said.
