TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Philippines will likely be drawn into a Taiwan Strait conflict, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in an interview with Nikkei on Sunday (Feb. 12).
"When we look at the situation in the area, especially the tensions in the Taiwan Strait, we can see that just by our geographical location, should there in fact be conflict in that area ... it's very hard to imagine a scenario where the Philippines will not somehow get involved," Nikkei quoted him as saying.
Marcos mentioned that a 40-minute flight is all it takes to get Kaohsiung from his home province of Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines. "We feel that we're very much on the front line," he said.
If a conflict broke out, his priority would be the well-being of the 150,000 Filipinos in Taiwan, the president said. The Philippines is committed to peace and protecting its national interests, he said.
Marcos stressed that differences should be solved through diplomacy instead of with force. "I sincerely believe that nobody wants to go to war... But we have continued to advise and to counsel all the parties involved to show restraint," he said.
Ultimately, the president said his nation is most concerned about ensuring “safe passage through the South China Sea," where roughly US$3.37 trillion (NT$102 trillion) worth of trade passes through each year.
"Many of our economies depend on it. Japan, including China even," he said. "That is something that's very, very important to all of us around the region."
On Feb. 2, the Philippines and the U.S. announced the acceleration of their Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which bolsters military training, exercises, and interoperability between the two countries, according to a Pentagon statement.
As part of the agreement, the U.S. has set aside US$82 million for infrastructure improvements at five current EDCA sites in the Philippines and expanded its military presence to four new sites across the Southeast Asian country.
The U.S. and the Philippines also agreed to resume joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea to address regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
Additionally, Marcos met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during a visit to Japan on Thursday (Feb. 9) and agreed to host Japanese soldiers for joint natural and humanitarian disaster response training, per Deutsche Welle. This move is interpreted by analysts as paving the way for more defense cooperation in the future.
