Hontiveros talks Chinese aggression in meeting with Taiwanese president Tsai
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros met Friday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen at the latter’s residence in Taipei where they discussed China’s aggression in the South China Sea, which the Philippine lawmaker called an “external threat” similarly faced by the self-governing island.
The Philippines follows the 'One China' and considers the Taiwan issue a domestic one.
The meeting between Tsai and Hontiveros — the first and highest sitting Philippine official to meet with the Taiwanese president during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — comes amid China’s brashness not only in the South China Sea but also around Taiwan which it claims to be a renegade province.
A press statement from Hontiveros’ office said the senator shared with Tsai that China’s intimidation, threats and harassment are “daily occurrences” that Filipino fisherfolk and Philippine Coast Guard personnel experience.
But in her opening statement at their meeting, Hontiveros said that, like Tsai, she desires a peaceful approach to issues on the South China Sea, a portion of which is the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf and is called the West Philippine Sea.
“I will work on taking tangible steps in the Philippine legislature to ensure that we successfully discuss and conduct diplomatic, legal, and respectful negotiations with all States concerned to advance peace and stability in the entire South China Sea,” Hontiveros said, according to the readout.
Hontiveros also underscored that the Philippines will keep its hands off on the issue of Taiwanese independence, but added that the democratic island’s residents should have the basic human right to self-determination.
“While we in the Philippines will never interfere with the issue of your independence, I will always support nations who err on the side of democracy,” Hontiveros of the Senate minority bloc said.
She continued, “We know that democracy is a powerful vaccine against armed conflict, as it requires fostering peaceful relations among citizens. When carried into the realm of foreign policy, this will result in peaceful international relations not only among our nations, but also across the world.”
Philippine officials have previously met with former Taiwanese presidents.
Before Hontiveros, then Sen. Edgardo Angara was the last sitting Philippine senator to meet with a Taiwanese president, Ma Ying-jeou, when he visited the island in 2009 together with then Labor Secretary Marianito Roque.
Cabinet-level officials have also met with Taiwanese presidents in the past, with the most recent one being in 2011, between Ma and then Transportation and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas.
Former President Fidel Ramos also met with Tsai in 2017, which was his ninth straight year of leading a delegation to Taiwan.
Rising tensions
China has accused the Philippines of further intensifying geopolitical tensions in the region by offering the US access to some of its military bases as part of the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
The Asian giant has accused the Western power of prepositioning itself to have access to Taiwan via the Philippines through EDCA, which provides the US access to Philippine military bases to store defense equipment and humanitarian aid supplies as well as allows joint training.
Beijing’s warnings to the Philippines went as far as its envoy to Manila, Huang Xilian, “advising” the country to oppose Taiwanese independence if it “cares genuinely” about the over 150,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan.
President Marcos, however, has assured that the EDCA sites will not be used for any offensive action.
Manila’s officials also reiterated that it sticks to the “One China Policy,” or the recognition of the People’s Republic of China and not of Taiwan which goes formally by the name of Republic of China.
The Philippines’ National Security Council has stressed that Manila does not want to meddle in the brewing conflict between the US and China over Taiwan and is not going to be a pawn of any country.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait riled up after high-ranking officials from the United States started visiting Taiwan, beginning with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in August 2022.
China previously warned the US that a visit would “seriously” harm China’s sovereignty and send a wrong signal to separatist forces. — with a report from Kaycee Valmonte
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