Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian on Thursday asked Philippine officials to follow the “guidance” of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “instead of any officials” in dealing with the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue.
“We need to follow the guidance of the President instead of any officials,” Huang said in an interview with reporters during the launch of the Manila Chinese Visa Applications Service Center in Makati City.
The Chinese envoy gave the remark after Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Manila and China cannot meet halfway in handling their differences unless the latter recognizes the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling favoring the former.
The Chinese official also emphasized the need for the Philippines to abide by the discussions it held with China in the recently concluded Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM).
“Both sides agree to handle maritime disputes through friendly consultations and communications. This is the spirit, not only of the BCM, but also of the two presidents,” he said.
Huang stressed that China and the Philippines should meet halfway to resolve the territorial dispute diplomatically and de-escalate ongoing tensions.
“We expect that both sides will meet halfway to handle the differences in a diplomatic manner and de-escalate the tensions,” Huang said.
In a meeting in Shanghai earlier this month, China and Philippine foreign affairs officials agreed to improve maritime communication and to properly manage conflicts and differences through friendly talks regarding issues around the South China Sea, a portion of which Manila calls the WPS.
During the talks, the two sides reaffirmed that the South China Sea dispute is “not the whole story of bilateral relations.”
The two countries have had numerous confrontations recently in the disputed waters in the South China Sea, with both trading accusations of provoking conflict in the economic strategic waterway.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has sent four note verbales to China in January 2024 in response to Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.
Earlier, Huang praised the President’s statement reaffirming the one-China policy.
After a bristling rebuke from Beijing, Mr. Marcos said the Philippines continues to adhere to the one-China policy, and that his congratulatory to Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te was just “common courtesy.”
The Philippines does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a democratic self-ruling island which has been separated from the Chinese mainland since 1949.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs deplored that China has put pressure on the Philippines after Marcos congratulated Lai.
“However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has noted that since Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. congratulated Taiwan, China has been strongly pressuring the Philippines and making crude and insulting comments,” Taiwan’s MOFA said.
The Taiwanese MOFA said it condemns “China’s malicious actions in the strongest terms and calls on all like-minded democratic countries to continue cooperating to help stop China’s authoritarian expansionism in the region and the world.”
In an interview with GMA News 24 Oras, the President said he congratulated Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te on X as a “common courtesy” as the latter also did the same when Mr. Marcos won in the 2022 presidential elections.
“My take on that is very simple. He greeted me when I became President so what do you do? It’s just common courtesy that you do the same for them. That’s really where it came from,” he said.
“The One China policy remains in place. We have adhered to the One China policy strictly and conscientiously since we adopted the One China policy, and that has not changed. That will not change.”
“We are not endorsing Taiwanese independence. Taiwan is a province of China but the manner in which they will be brought together again is an internal matter. All we want is peace, that there will be no conflict,” he added.
