China has warned it would be "dangerous" to implicate its internal issue with Taiwan in its maritime dispute with the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said that "the Taiwan question is not and should never become an issue between China and the Philippines" as it is "starkly different in nature" from the maritime differences between Beijing and Manila.
The embassy also said that its issue in the self-governing island is purely an internal affair and does not brook any external interference.
Meanwhile, the maritime differences between China and the Philippines "can be compared to (a) spat between neighbors, while the Taiwan question is completely domestic."
"Distinction between the two must not be blurred," it said in its statement Wednesday, March 20.
China's statement came after it said it noticed certain individuals in the Philippines “acting in contravention of the one-China principle under the disguise of economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchange."
It said the individual's statement contravened the Philippine government's long-time stand of implementing the One-China Policy, which recognizes that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government of China; that there is but one China; and that Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory.
“In his January reiteration of the Philippine position on the one-China policy, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that Taiwan is a province of China, and the manner in which they (Chinese mainland and the province of Taiwan) will be brought together again is an internal matter,” it said.
The embassy said Beijing appreciates Marcos’ statement.
It also believes that: “as long as our two countries follow the principled consensus reached between the heads-of-state of the two countries, keep to the correct direction of the development of bilateral relations, respect each other, properly resolve differences and cooperate for mutual benefits, China-Philippines relations will steer a steady course for the profit of the peoples of the two countries.”