Don’t escalate tension, senators appeal to US, China, Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines — Senators are appealing to the United States, China and Taiwan not to escalate the tension and militarize the issue of the recent visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, said he would call officials of the national security and concerned military officials to conduct a briefing on the situation. He scheduled the briefing for Wednesday.

“I will call military officials to brief the Senate on what is really happening on the ground… We can discuss and ask what is happening in Taiwan,” Estrada said in an interview over dwIZ.

For him, the Philippines should be neutral on the issue.

“We cannot go against the two superpowers China and US. Taiwan is close to us and there are many Filipinos there. That is one thing that I am worried about. I am praying that the situation in Taiwan will not worsen because when China and the US fight, the world will be affected, not just the Philippines. We have to be friends with everybody – with China, US, Russia, Taiwan and other countries,” Estrada said.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III called on all parties to remain calm and not militarize the issue.

“The visit of the US Speaker of the House to Taiwan, of course, provoked China. And China did a live fire military drill near Taiwan, so that is also a provocation. (The situation is) escalating because an official of a country made a visit and another country made a military exercise. Let us urge the US and China to relax. Let us calm down the tension. On the part of the Philippines, we will tell them that we will continue to honor the one-China policy,” he said.

Pimentel added that the situation could be addressed through diplomacy.

“If they need to argue, they could use the UN mechanism because we go outside of that, it will become dangerous. There are now so many flashpoints in the world. There is the Russia-Ukraine war… Now, there is Taiwan, US versus China, which many fear would lead to World War III if it escalates into a military conflict,” he pointed out.

He also stressed the need for the Philippines to prepare, considering the proximity of Taiwan to the country and the presence of 140,000 Filipino workers there.