Erwin Tulfo: PH should rethink One China Policy amid Beijing harassment ~ HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Friday, August 29, 2025

Erwin Tulfo: PH should rethink One China Policy amid Beijing harassment

Friday, August 29, 2025 Herbert Curia - Promoter No comments

From the Website of INQUIRER
links https://globalnation.inquirer.net/289453/erwin-tulfo-ph-should-rethink-one-china-policy-amid-beijing-harassment

Erwin Tulfo: PH should rethink One China Policy amid Beijing harassment

MANILA, Philippines — Is the Philippines allowing itself to be bullied by China in the name of diplomacy?

Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Thursday raised the need for the Philippine government to reconsider its stance on the One China Policy, citing Beijing’s continued harassment of Filipinos and its claims over the West Philippine Sea.

At a Senate foreign relations panel hearing, Tulfo stressed that his personal stand comes from the belief that China no longer shows “respect” to the Philippines.

“We follow the One China Policy here, so they say ‘don’t interfere’—but what about us? What about our rights? Our rights in the West Philippine Sea. They come and go freely, and we have no say, to the point that our personnel—our coast guard and navy—are being harassed. Our fishermen are being driven back to our own shores. I don’t know, but in my opinion, we really need to reconsider our position. I mean, yes, the US observes the One China Policy, but they’re not being bullied. We’re the ones being bullied,” he said.

The One China Policy is an international principle wherein countries recognize the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China and acknowledge that there is only one China, with Taiwan considered part of it.

Among the countries that recognize this principle is the Philippines.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, in the same hearing, said the Philippines does not recognize Taiwan as a “sovereign state,” and that it is leaving all to “the Chinese people to resolve cross-strait matters.” “The Filipino people have long-standing relations with the Taiwanese people and we therefore benefit from continued engagement with them. But just to add a little bit more, we do not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. We leave it to the Chinese people to resolve cross-strait matters. Conflict will have an impact on geographically-proximate territories and the President did not deviate from our principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” said Lazaro.

Later in the hearing, the foreign affairs chief, addressing Tulfo’s suggestion, explained that there are ongoing mechanisms to de-escalate tension, especially in the West Philippine Sea.

“We have a mechanism. We have so many mechanisms, and it works in different sectors. We have the bilateral consultative mechanism of the South China Sea. This is at the level of the foreign ministry, it may seem that it is — [that] it doesn’t have that much impact, but yes it does,” said Lazaro.

But while Tulfo agrees that these mechanisms are great, he still underscored that China’s attacks have become more intense.

“This is what we’ve been saying—we keep on observing the One China Policy so that we don’t treat Taiwan as a separate country, since they claim it as theirs. But the point is, why do our neighbor continue to disrespect us? Do we have any real leverage over China? Or are we simply allowing ourselves to be bullied in the name of diplomacy?” he concluded. /dl