The unwavering support for cross-strait peace and stability recently expressed by the foreign and defense secretaries of the Philippines and U.S. is deeply appreciated by the government and people of Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said July 31.
The remarks followed a joint statement released July 30 in response to the Philippines-U.S. Fourth 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Manila. The event was attended by Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo and Secretary for National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. of the Philippines, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin.
In the statement, the two countries reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that similar sentiments were expressed at the third dialogue last April.
President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has also recently made remarks to that effect, the MOFA said, noting that he called cross-strait peace a top priority during his opening speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue held May 31 in Singapore.
The MOFA welcomed the international community to continue to jointly uphold values of freedom and democracy. Taiwan is committed to working with like-minded partners to defend the rules-based international order and safeguard a free and open Indo-Pacific, the ministry added.
A day earlier, the MOFA issued a statement urging countries worldwide to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific prompted by the release of a joint statement following a meeting between Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta and Chinese leader Xi Jinping July 29. The MOFA solemnly condemned the joint statement’s distortion of the U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758, which does not identify Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China or authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the U.N.
The ROC (Taiwan) is a sovereign and independent country, the ministry said, adding that neither the ROC (Taiwan) nor the PRC is subordinate to the other. The ministry further called on the international community to deter China’s attempts to establish a legal pretext for future military aggression against the country. (YCH-E)
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