The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday.
“It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week.
Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said.
Photo: AP
The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese cybersecurity attacks and espionage, have increased, the report said, citing information from the Philippine National Security Council.
The Philippines is “entitled” to negotiate its relationship with Taiwan, given that prior attempts to ease tensions with China have so far found no success, the report quoted Teodoro as saying.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials told the newspaper that security cooperation with Taiwan is “further along” than publicly disclosed, following a new policy by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr that reduced restrictions on exchanges between the two countries.
Filipino academics with ties to the nation’s defense establishment earlier this year participated in forums with high-ranking Taiwanese generals to better understand security thinking in the country, the paper said.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration and the Philippine Coast Guard recently carried out joint patrols of the Bashi Channel, it added.
Taiwan also sent observers to a joint US-Philippine-Japan military exercise called Kamandag that took place in the Batanes islands, it said.
Batanes is the Philippines’ northernmost province and less than 200km south of Taiwan.
Although Philippine officials did not say the exercise targeted China, the report cited analysts who said they were clearly meant to counter Chinese ships.
An anonymous Taiwanese adviser said that although personnel did not participate, the two countries are “closer and closer” in defense matters, the newspaper reported.
In a news release last month, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said that the Philippines has “tied itself to the US war chariot, and become a coconspirator in destabilizing the region.”
Due to the Philippines’ proximity to Taiwan, Taiwan’s large Filipino population and US defense agreements with the country, one Filipino academic told the paper that “we’d be kidding ourselves not to see the necessity of working with Taiwan.”
The report quoted another professor as saying that “Taiwan is our buffer from an expansionist China.”
The recent visit to Taiwan by two senior Philippine officials and one former official caused “severe diplomatic complications,” Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Theresa Lazaro said in a letter that the newspaper obtained.
The report also quoted Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) as saying that while the two countries were diplomatically distant before, they have “started to smile at each other.”
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
BOOST IN CONFIDENCE: The sale sends a clear message of support for Taiwan and dispels rumors that US President Donald Trump ‘sold out’ the nation, an expert said The US government on Thursday announced a possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet parts, which was estimated to cost about US$330 million, in a move that an expert said “sends a clear message of support for Taiwan” amid fears that Washington might be wavering in its attitude toward Taipei. It was the first announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. The proposed package includes non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, as well repair and return support for the F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft,
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
RSS