President Marcos late Monday evening congratulated Lai Ching-te on his election as Taiwan’s next president.
“On behalf of the Filipino people, I congratulate President-elect Lai Ching-te on his election as Taiwan’s next President. We look forward to close collaboration, strengthening mutual interests, fostering peace, and ensuring prosperity for our peoples in the years ahead,” Mr. Marcos said in a post on X.
The President’s message came a day after the Department of Foreign Affairs said Manila remained committed to its one-China policy.
China’s foreign affairs ministry also warned countries against supporting Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and condemned those that congratulated Lai.
Lai, who retweeted Mr. Marcos’ post, thanked the Philippine leader for his congratulatory message.
“I deeply value the enduring friendship between Taiwan and the Philippines,” Lai said.
“I look forward to enhancing our economic and people-to-people ties while championing democracy, peace & prosperity in the region,” Taiwan’s president-elect added.
On Sunday, China’s foreign affairs ministry took exception to a statement from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken congratulating Lai.
Beijing said the message sent “a seriously incorrect signal” to “Taiwan independence separatist forces.”
“China has always firmly opposed any form of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, and resolutely opposes the United States interfering in Taiwan affairs in any form and under any pretext,” the foreign ministry said in a statement published on its website.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry Mao Ning upheld Beijing’s position that “there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change.”
“Taiwan has never been a country and will never be one. We believe that the international community’s prevailing consensus on upholding the one-China principle and long-standing and overwhelming adherence to this principle will become more solid,” Mao said in a press conference on Monday.
