Joselito Malig

Marcos: PH will not be a launch pad for US attacks if China invades Taiwan

Article (news)

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Philippines will not allow other countries to use its bases in the event of a war between China and Taiwan, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, underscoring that his administration “has no desire to be a belligerent nation in the region.”Marcos gave the statement during his luncheon with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), where he was asked if his administration would “allow the US military to launch offensive actions from Philippine bases and territory” should an “invasion in Taiwan” happen.“No, there will be no attacks on anyone from the Philippines. We have no interest in that,” the Commander in Chief said.“All we are concerned about is the defense of our territory and the maintenance of peace and stability in the region. That is all that the Philippines is concerned with, that is all the Philippines will promote, that is all that the Philippines will endorse and support,” he said.Marcos explained that any attack launched from the Philippines is “contrary” to his administration’s peace policy.“We will stick with that policy where all that we do is work hard to maintain peace and stability in the region,” he said.Since 2024, China has been calling out the presence of the United States’ mid-range Typhon Missile System, which can launch attacks up to 2,500 kilometers. The armament was last publicly used in this year’s Balikatan Exercises.When asked what other aid it expects from the US and its other partners to help bolster deterrence in the region, Marcos said: “That question does not belong to the Philippines.”“The Philippines does what we do, again, to defend our territory, to the continuation of the exercise of our sovereign rights and the recognition of our sovereignty,” he said.“What other countries choose to do is really not something that the Philippines has much influence on. So again, what the United States or for that matter any other country chooses to do is really an internal matter for them and how they choose to handle their own foreign policy,” he said.Meanwhile, Marcos noted that while the Philippines has “been doing business with Taiwan for a very long time since they are a very close neighbor,” but only in activities that are “purely commercial in nature,&quot; adding that “this is very much in the context of our One China policy.”

The Philippines will not allow other countries to use its bases in the event of a war between China and Taiwan, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, underscoring that his administration “has no desire to be a belligerent nation in the region.”

The Philippines will not allow other countries to use its bases in the event of a war between China and Taiwan, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, underscoring that his administration “has no desire to be a belligerent nation in the region.”