TECO responds

Regarding the letter of the spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the Philippines titled “One China principle brooks no challenges and distortions,” we have the following points to respond.

• The Republic of China was established in 1911 with the dream of creating a democratic republic of the people, by the people and for the people. After the defeat in the civil war in 1949, the central government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan, but it continues to exist, thrive and exercise sovereign rights. While we have never denied some of those historical truths mentioned in the letter, including the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation, they cannot deny that the continuous existence of the Republic of China on Taiwan is an objective and indisputable fact. Actually, the People’s Republic of China has never governed Taiwan for a single day.

• Through valiant sacrifice and devotion over the years, people in Taiwan opened the door to democracy, and the people’s desire to master their own destiny has finally been fulfilled. The Republic of China on Taiwan has become a full-fledged democracy, continuing to exercise its sovereign rights, including electing its own president and vice president, and issuing visas to foreigners who want to travel to or work in Taiwan. Visa issuance is an act of sovereignty. When we commend the contribution of the 155,000-plus overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan that help develop Taiwan’s economy, we also welcome Filipino students to study and pursue higher education in Taiwan. They have to go to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, which is the de facto embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the Philippines, to apply for their visas to Taiwan, instead of the Chinese embassy in the Philippines. It is also Taiwan’s government, not Chinese government, that grants visa waiver treatment to Filipino passport holders for traveling in Taiwan within 14 days.

• Though facing severe challenges from our biggest neighbor across the Taiwan Strait, the Republic of China (Taiwan) will neither yield nor provoke. Under the principles of parity and dignity, the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) hopes to engage with the PRC to minimize the possibility of conflict by choosing dialogue over confrontation and exchange over containment. It will staunchly uphold its free and democratic constitutional system, preserve the status quo and remain committed to ensuring regional peace and stability. – Sophia Chi, Spokesperson of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines