President Bongbong Marcos impressed me for the first time. He turned the world upside down when he tweeted his congratulatory message to Taiwan president-elect Lai Chin-te. It may be because he is simply careless and carefree or because he will fully did it. His tweet may have even roused Xi Jinping from deep sleep. It was a tweet that sent all Filipino diplomats scrambling for possible excuses. It was shit.
The “not so presidential” tweet may have elicited wild reactions and insults from the Foreign Ministry of China up to the point of its brainless spokesperson Mao Ning suggesting that President Marcos should read more to understand further the issue of Taiwan and its impact on the relationship between Beijing and the Philippines and even threaten that it could deepen further the conflict brought by the territorial claims at the West Philippine Sea.
I can’t fathom how China was slighted by the president’s tweet when they have long insulted not just the president but the whole Filipino nation when they claimed the whole West Philippine Sea and harassed Filipinos making a living or passing through the contested territory. The president may have violated the One-China Policy that his father started back then and has been observed by other nations with diplomatic ties with China but it pales in comparison to the aggression that they have been doing against the government authorities and civilians routinely working and fishing around the contested group of islands.
The Chinese have made a hill out of a mole from the president’s tweet. It was an utter disrespect against them. What about their non-recognition of the decision made by the International Tribunal that identifies the Philippines as the rightful claimant of the West Philippine Sea? Isn’t it a clear disrespect and non-recognition of the sovereignty of the Philippines? It appears that what China wants is for all countries to bow to them and lick their butts.
The One-China Policy and the Taiwan independence is a very complicated subject matter. However, if China doesn’t want to feel slighted and wants to oblige all countries to recognize them only and disregard Taiwan, they should start showing respect and stop their arrogant behavior especially in their claims of contested territories. It may sound plain and simple which is not actually the character of relationships among nations but respect begets respect which could not be plainer and simpler.
On the other hand, Marcos may have acted carelessly or without even thinking about it but Taiwan is host to almost 200,000 Filipino contract workers whose earnings are sent to their families back home and is helping move the economy. Isn’t it fitting for Marcos to congratulate the new president of Taiwan? Yes, he could have done it through democratic channels in order not to provoke China but firing water cannons against Filipino civilians and Coast Guard boats passing through the West Philippine Sea, the territory which they are only claiming is not diplomatic at all. It’s even beyond bullying. It’s barbaric.
