Philippines-Taiwan security tieup not possible – DND chief

MANILA, Philippines — Not wanting to meddle in the internal affairs of China, the Philippines will never enter into any security cooperation agreement with Taiwan.

“We cannot,” Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro told “The Chiefs” over One News on July 24, quickly rejecting such a proposal.

“That has a zero possibility (of) happening. Because really, the relations between China and Taiwan and its status as an international body is an internal question between China and Taiwan,” he explained.

“We do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, only with the People’s Republic of China,” Teodoro said, noting that the Philippines doesn’t want other nations to also meddle with its internal affairs.

“We have treaty alliances with other countries such as the United States who are committed to our credible deterrent capability upgrade build-up. And the way we do that and with whom we ally is our business,” he stressed.

“In the same vein that we do not interfere with the internal questions of China. And a security arrangement with Taiwan would be a blatant disregard of that core issue of China,” he said.

Teodoro issued the reaction in response to a proposal made by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu for a security cooperation agreement between the Philippines and Taiwan.

He told The STAR in an earlier interview that a possible security cooperation deal “is one area that we should think about.”

Taiwan’s idea comes amid China’s threat of retaking Taiwan by force that may affect the Philippines, being its closest neighbor.