The Taiwan question should not become an issue between China and the Philippines
THE one-China principle is the political prerequisite and foundation for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and foreign countries. On June 9, 1975, late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. signed in Beijing the Joint Communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Philippines. In this Communiqué, the Philippine Government recognizes “the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, fully understands and respects the position of the Chinese Government that there is but one China and that Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory, and decides to remove all its official representations from Taiwan within one month from the date of signature of this Communiqué”.
We appreciate the implementation of the one-China policy by successive Philippine governments in the 49 years since the establishment of our diplomatic relations. Such an attitude of the Philippine society towards the Taiwan question has not been questioned or challenged. Yet we have noticed with deep concern some jarring noise by certain individuals in the Philippines acting in contravention of the one-China principle under the disguise of economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchange.
The Taiwan question is not and should never become an issue between China and the Philippines. Any attempt to implicate the Taiwan question in the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines is dangerous. The Taiwan question, starkly different in nature from the maritime differences between China and the Philippines, is purely an internal affair of China that does not brook any external interference. The maritime differences are between China and the Philippines that can be compared to spat between neighbors, while the Taiwan question is completely domestic. Distinction between the two must not be blurred.
The manner of realizing national reunification is an internal affair of China. Our policy to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity is consistent and clearcut. Also explicit is our bottom line, that is we will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland. At the time of establishment of diplomatic relations, governments of China and the Philippines agreed to “resolve all disputes by peaceful means, without resorting to the use or threat of use of force” on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. It is worth emphasizing that such an expression is valid for resolving issues between states, but neither pertinent nor relevant to the Taiwan question.
In his January reiteration of the Philippine position on the one-China policy, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that Taiwan is a province of China, and the manner in which they (Chinese mainland and the province of Taiwan) will be brought together again is an internal matter. China appreciates such a statement and believes that as long as our two countries follow the principled consensus reached between the heads-of-state of the two countries, keep to the correct direction of the development of bilateral relations, respect each other, properly resolve differences and cooperate for mutual benefits, China-Philippines relations will steer a steady course for the profit of the peoples of the two countries.