China's top envoy to the Philippines was criticized by leaders in his host nation after he cautioned Manila against escalating regional tensions over Taiwan in public remarks that appeared to threaten the island's Filipino residents.
Huang Xilian, who assumed the ambassadorship in late 2019, deplored the Philippine government's recent decision to grant visiting U.S. forces access to additional military sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, also known as EDCA. He said the bases could be used to undermine China's aim of "unification" with Taiwan, where around 150,000 overseas Filipino workers, or OFWs, live.
Taiwan, a democratically governed island of over 23 million people, has for years rejected Beijing's plans for a political union across the Taiwan Strait. China's leaders use phrases like separatists or secessionists—or proponents of "Taiwan independence"—to describe officials in Taipei who seek to maintain this decades-long status quo.
"Some tried to find excuses for the new EDCA sites by citing the safety of the 150,000 overseas foreign workers in Taiwan. While China is the last country that wishes to see conflict over the strait...we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures," Huang, 55, said in English on Friday at the embassy-backed Manila Forum for Philippines-China Relations.
"This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities," he said. "The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose 'Taiwan independence' rather than stoking the fire by offering the U.S. access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care about the 150,000 overseas foreign workers."
The diplomat's comments drew a stern response from the typically cautious administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. His National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said on Saturday that Huang had previously been assured that the EDCA sites were "not meant for offensive operations against China or for interference in the Taiwan issue."
"Our primordial concern in Taiwan is the safety and well-being of the more than 150,000 Filipinos living and working on the island," he said, adding, "and we take grave exception to any effort by guests in our country to use this to fear-monger and intimidate us."
The statement echoed Marcos Jr.'s position earlier this month when his government identified four new EDCA sites in the Philippine provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Palawan, in addition to the existing access agreements at five bases in the country.
"We will not let any of our bases be used for whatever offensive action," he said. "If no one is advancing towards us, they should not worry because we will not fight them."
The U.S.-Philippines alliance is among the oldest in Asia. Under their mutual defense treaty of 1951, American troops are legally obliged to assist militarily if Philippine forces are attacked by a foreign adversary, including in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have long-running territorial disputes.
"The addition of these new EDCA locations will allow more rapid support for humanitarian and climate-related disasters in the Philippines, and respond to other shared challenges," the U.S. Defense Department said in its February announcement.
Risa Hontiveros, a Philippine senator who leads the country's opposition Akbayan party, urged the Macros Jr. administration to expel Huang from the capital.
"These are truly disgraceful statements from Ambassador Huang Xilian. How dare he threaten us," she said in a public statement. "He has no business being a diplomat if he is unable to engage with us in a respectful and dignified manner. He, along with his country's ships and artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea, should pack up and leave."
"The Philippines will never interfere with the issue of Taiwanese independence. That is exclusively for the people of Taiwan to tackle. We, in the Philippines, respect the right of the Taiwanese people to self-determination, and this right must be upheld by all other nations that share this planet, even including the autocratic regime of China," Hontiveros said.
"If China has issues with the U.S., she shouldn't drag our country into their fight. It is China who has been stoking tensions in the region, claiming territories that aren't hers. It is China that continues to bully, harass, and intimidate other smaller nations in the region. It is China who is making all this mess," she said.
In a statement on Twitter, her party likened Huang to "a hostage-taker, not an ambassador," adding: "We don't negotiate with hostage takers. He has no right to threaten our citizens while enjoying our country's hospitality."
China's embassy on Sunday said Huang's remarks had been "misquoted or misinterpreted," or taken "out of context." It published the ambassador's prepared remarks in English and Chinese, both of which showed he hadn't deviated from the script.
Huang spoke at the Manila Forum soon after China concluded three days of war games around Taiwan in response to a meeting on U.S. soil between U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. The Philippine government's decision to grant American forces more access had "caused widespread and grave concern among Chinese people," Huang said.
"Facts speak louder than words. Obviously, the U.S. intends to take advantage of the new EDCA sites to interfere in the situation across the Taiwan Strait to serve its geopolitical goals, and advance its anti-China agenda at the expense of peace and development of the Philippines and the region at large," he said.
Early last week, the U.S. and the Philippines kicked off the largest-ever edition of their annual Balikatan military exercise, which was scheduled from April 11-28. It would involve more than 17,600 service members from both allied forces, the Pentagon said.
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About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
