Chinese consulate allays fears over Taiwan crisis

CEBU, Philippines — The Chinese government has assured Filipinos that the issue concerning Taiwan will be dealt with peacefully.

Many Filipinos are getting worried about the tension between the United States and China following the unannounced visit to Taiwan, especially those of their loved ones.

Senator Raffy Tulfo, who is groomed to head the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, accordingly noted that there are around 200,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan.

Tulfo even called on the Philippine government to prepare for contingency plans for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan.

In a press conference at the Chinese Consulate here, Chinese Consul General Jai Li, through an interpreter, said he understands the concern of the families here saying, their worries are normal.

Li said he is also taking note of the Filipinos’ concern and emphasized that the Chinese government will do a “peaceful reunification” and “will not use weapons or go to war” to settle the matter.

“Taiwanese people are also Chinese people due to history, they were separated in 1940s or ‘50s. So both places are brother and sister, so why should we use force or weapons to settle the reunification?” the Consul-General said.

Li stressed that the cause of this current situation is the US following US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s unannounced trip to Taiwan.

The visit of Pelosi was “a political farce, and dangerous, malicious provocation and infringed China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.

The Chinese government said Taiwan is being used by the US to control China.

With this, Li said the Chinese government is putting all measures “to stop outside forces and not Taiwan itself.”

“We want to stress to the US: do not act recklessly, and stop going further down on the doomed path. Give up the attempt to use Taiwan to contain China, play no games but return the one-China principle and the three-point communiques, and do right things and take concrete steps to facilitate the steady development of China-US relations,” read part of the statement from the Chinese Consulate office issued to the press yesterday.

China is also thankful to the Philippine government for respecting its One China policy.

Earlier, the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had reiterated its adherence to the One China policy, in recognizing the People’s Republic of China as the sole Chinese government.

Aside from the Philippines, China claims that 169 other countries as well as many international organizations have reaffirmed their commitment to the one-China principle and expressed support for China in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The one-China principle is the consensus of the international community, it is also a political foundation on which China develops relations with other countries,” it said. —GMR (FREEMAN)