Beijing has protested against the Philippine president’s remarks during a visit to India about a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait, warning Manila on Friday to stop “playing with fire”.
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In an interview with Indian media outlet Firstpost, published on Wednesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said that his country would “have to get involved”.
“To be very practical about it, if there is confrontation over Taiwan between China and the United States, there is no way that the Philippines can stay out of it simply because of our physical, geographic location,” he said.
The Chinese foreign ministry responded on Friday with a statement that said such rhetoric violated international laws and undermined regional peace, stability and the fundamental interests of the people.
The Taiwan issue is an internal affair and “no external interference is tolerated”, the statement said.
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Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunified by force if necessary. Most countries, including the Philippines and the US, do not recognise the island as independent. However, Washington opposes any unilateral change to the status quo and is committed to supplying arms to Taipei.
“The Philippines is reneging on its promises, disregarding the consequences, persistently engaging in erroneous and provocative words and actions, continuously undermining and hollowing out the one-China principle, and damaging China-Philippines relations,” the foreign ministry said.