Manila, February 13 Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speculates that in the event of a war in Taiwan, it would be “difficult for the Philippines not to be involved in one way or another” due to the “geographical proximity” between the second, while increasing tension around Taiwan, which Beijing does not rule out invading.
“We feel like we’re on the front line” if conflict breaks out in Taiwan, Marcos Jr. said in an interview with the Nikkei before returning from Japan on Sunday after a five-day official visit.
The northernmost part of the Philippines, on the island of Luzon, is separated from southern Taiwan by the approximately 250 km spanning the Luzon Strait.
Marcos Jr.’s statements come at a delicate time for relations between China, which considers Taiwan a rebel island and does not rule out invading it, and the Philippines, a country that has strengthened its ties with the United States. United, amid growing incursions by Chinese fighters into Taiwanese airspace and other acts of intimidation from Beijing.
Thus, on February 2, during a visit to Manila by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, China and the United States agreed to augment a defense pact signed in 2014, through which US troops could operate at five Philippine military bases, adding four more. in “strategic” areas.
Experts point out that the new bases, yet to be revealed, could be located precisely in Luzon, to facilitate US access to Taiwan – which Washington would in principle defend in the event of an attack from Beijing – and to Palawan, the continental area. closest to some islands in the South China Sea disputed by China and the Philippines.
“The temperature in the region has been slowly rising, so we need to be more careful to ensure that we adequately defend our territorial integrity,” Marcos Jr. said in an interview with Japanese media.
STRATEGIC VISIT TO JAPAN
The Philippine president also admitted, in statements to local media from the plane returning from Tokyo, that he was working on a defense agreement with Japan, an ally of the United States, to allow military tests between Tokyo and Manila.
In addition, Marcos Jr. thanked during his visit to Japan for Tokyo’s help in terms of military equipment, which is used to patrol disputed waters with Beijing in the South China Sea.
If since coming to power in June, Marcos Jr. has strengthened his ties with Washington, after former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s turn towards China (2016-2022), he is also trying to maintain harmony with Beijing. , its largest trading partner. .
At the beginning of the year, the Philippine president met in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, with whom he had agreed on a direct line of communication to appease the dispute in the South China Sea.
Despite this, tensions in this area also appear to be on the rise, and today the Philippine Coast Guard accused a Chinese coastal patrol of stepping up its harassment methods by using a blinding laser for the first time against one of its ships in the China Sea. . ECE
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