TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Beijing expressed anger at the Philippines after Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) made a visit to Manila last week. 

The Chinese foreign ministry claims Manila provided a platform for “Taiwan Separatists” by allowing Lin to visit the country. Beijing said that Manila “violated basic norms of international relations,” and said the government has a “serious lack of credibility,” reported Philstar.

Lin made a visit to the Philippines as the head of a trade delegation on Aug. 28 to discuss investment and the development of a Taiwan-Philippines Economic Corridor. Taiwan's foreign ministry issued a press release on Saturday touting bilateral trade and cooperation which confirmed Lin's visit, without any mention of China. 

Responding to China’s accusations, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said that it did not formally recognize any member of the visiting delegation as “an official from Taiwan,” per Philstar. 

In a carefully worded statement, Department Secretary Theresa Lazaro claimed the DFA had no direct knowledge of Lin’s presence. She said the DFA would not respond to “the question of whether there is a foreign minister in the delegation.”

The Chinese government lodged strong protests over Lin's visit on Friday, both from its embassy in Manila, and at the Philippine embassy in Beijing. On Saturday, the Chinese embassy issued another statement that called the Philippines “unstable” and warned Chinese citizens about traveling or studying there due to what it described as an increase in crimes targeting Chinese, reported UDN.