April 17, 2023
China has willfully ramped up its military threats toward Taiwan, seriously undermining security, peace, and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific region. This is a cause of great concern for neighboring countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines. Considerations include whether their nationals in Taiwan are under threat of Chinese military action and what practical steps can be taken to protect them.
Recently, China’s ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said stronger US-Philippine security cooperation would “interfere” in the situation across the Taiwan Strait and put the 150,000 overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan at risk. Such brazen threats are unacceptable to the civilized world.
Protecting their nationals is one of the most important tasks of all foreign missions in Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) maintains close communication and engages in frequent exchanges of opinions on regional developments with foreign representative offices in Taiwan. When appropriate, MOFA also provides necessary assistance to countries to protect their citizens.
MOFA strongly condemns the inappropriate remarks made by the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines. He used the safety of overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan as a pretext to threaten the government of the Philippines, manipulate the Taiwan issue, create panic, and attempt to disguise the fact that it is China which is undermining regional peace and stability. MOFA also recognizes the importance that Indonesia and the Philippines attach to their migrant workers in Taiwan and affirms the concrete steps taken by those countries to promote peace and stability in the region.
Taiwan is willing to continue discussions with Indonesia, the Philippines, and other countries on protecting their nationals in Taiwan and other issues of bilateral cooperation so as to deepen friendly ties and jointly contribute to maintaining a free, open, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.