President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines congratulated President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan on his recent election win, and China did seem to like it. Following the greeting, China reacted negatively on Tuesday, January 16.
The already-tense relationship between the two countries will most certainly become much more so after Beijing's undiplomatic remarks, in which it cautioned Manila "not to play with fire," escalate the dispute over competing territory claims in the South China Sea.
On Monday, January 15, Marcos expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Lai in a social media post. Lai is a strong critic of China and its claims to Taiwan.
In a report by Al Jazeera, the spokesperson for Beijing's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to Marcos' comments, calling on Manila to provide a responsible explanation.
In response, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that Marcos' comments were an effort to acknowledge the mutual interests of the two nations, which include the 200,000 overseas workers now working in Taiwan.
"The message of President Marcos congratulating the new president was his way of thanking them for hosting our OFWs [Overseas Filipino Workers] and holding a successful democratic process. Nevertheless, the Philippines reaffirms its One China Policy," the DFA stated, as reported by the local newspaper Manila Bulletin.
On behalf of the Filipino people, I congratulate President-elect Lai Ching-te on his election as Taiwan's next President.
— Bongbong Marcos (@bongbongmarcos) January 15, 2024
We look forward to close collaboration, strengthening mutual interests, fostering peace, and ensuring prosperity for our peoples in the years ahead.
The One China Policy
Mao emphasized that the comments continued to go against the "One China" concept, which Beijing asserts as the foundation for its sovereignty claim over Taiwan.
Aside from being an egregious intrusion into China's domestic affairs, Mao saw Marcos's comments as an obvious breach of the political promises the Philippines had made to China. She continued: "We are telling the Philippine side not to play with fire on the Taiwan issue ... and to stop immediately its wrongful words and deeds on Taiwan-related issues and sending wrong signals to separatist forces for Taiwan independence."
Some nations recognize Taiwan, although Beijing does not maintain diplomatic relations with them and opposes formal exchanges between other countries and Taipei.
Taiwan's Presidential Election
Last weekend, Lai breezed to an easy victory in Taiwan's presidential election. He is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). China has rejected the president-elect's request to meet with officials despite Lai's earlier willingness to do so.
In a three-way race, Lai was one of three candidates: Hou Yu-ih of the conservative Kuomintang (KMT), Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and Lai himself. The Central Election Commission reported that 40.2% of the vote went to Lai.
Amid his victory speech, Lai expressed gratitude to both the Taiwanese people and his opponents, saying, "We are telling the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism, we will stand on the side of democracy."
Apart from Philipines' Marcos, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken are among the other world leaders who have congratulated Lai on his win.
