Pangilinan: China’s military drills alarming to Taiwanese, Pinoys
Sen. Francis Pangilinan has expressed concern over China’s alleged aggression in Taiwan, after the former’s military and coast guard conducted live-fire drills around the island.
“It is the season of goodwill, but China’s two-day military drills encircling Taiwan have brought ill will all around—to the Taiwan people, to Filipinos working, living, and spending the holidays there, and to peoples across East and Southeast Asia,” Pangilinan said in a statement.
The Chinese military launched on Dec. 29 its largest-ever war games around Taiwan.
Beijing said the exercises were a stern warning against Taiwan’s “separatist forces and external interference,” according to reports.
According to Pangilinan, peace on earth “cannot be built on threats of invasion, expanding foreign basing or war games.”
“We all share this one planet, and our shared future depends not on missiles nor alliances of convenience, but on our individual and collective cooperation for social justice, climate action and democratic rights,” he said.
As of late last year, there were approximately 194,000 Filipinos living in Taiwan, based on data provided by Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency.
