Taipei, Taiwan – A Chinese blockade of Taiwan could have direct consequences for the Philippine economy, a senior Taiwanese official warned, arguing that preventing conflict across the Taiwan Strait is also in Manila’s national interest.
Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu said disruptions caused by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have already demonstrated how conflicts far from Southeast Asia can affect energy supplies and economic growth.
A conflict much closer to the Philippines could have even wider repercussions, he said.
“The stability and the peace here in the Taiwan Strait is not some kind of thing that you are helping us. It’s because it’s also your own national interest,” Wu told visiting journalists in Taipei on Friday, Aug. 21.
“We have the Ukraine war, we have the Hamas war, and it concerns our energy. You certainly feel that now we do have a problem for our economic growth,” he said.
“If China blockades Taiwan, you can imagine what will be your future,” Wu added.
Taiwan sits along major shipping routes in the Western Pacific and plays a critical role in global semiconductor production.
The Philippines is also geographically close to Taiwan, with Batanes lying less than 200 kilometers from the southern part of the island.
Around 180,000 Filipinos live and work in Taiwan, making their safety one of Manila’s most immediate concerns in the event of a cross-strait conflict.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has acknowledged that the Philippines would find it difficult to remain unaffected if fighting breaks out.
The warning comes as China continues military activities around Taiwan while asserting sovereignty over the self-governing island.
Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim and says it wants to preserve the status quo.
The Philippines maintains a One-China policy and has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Wu argued that the Philippines does not have to view stability across the Taiwan Strait as choosing between Taipei and Beijing.
For Taiwan, he said, preventing conflict is also about protecting the economic and security interests of countries that would have to deal with its consequences.
