Palace allays fears on possible 'Taiwan invasion'

Malacañang on Wednesday allayed concerns about the possible invasion of Taiwan amid China's military exercises around Taipei.

At a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said there is "nothing to worry about" despite the call of the Armed Forces of the Philippine chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. to Filipino troops to get ready in case of an invasion of Taiwan.

''Sa aming pagtanto, hindi naman po dapat mabahala ang taumbayan patungkol po dito. Tama lamang po na magkaroon po siya ng reminder sa buong troops pati na din po sa taumbayan na we always should be prepared in all contingencies,'''' Castro said.

(In our opinion, the people should not be worried as regards this issue. It's just correct that [General Brawner] would issue a reminder to our troops and also to the public that we should always be prepared for all contingencies.)

Asked about the repatriation measures in case this ''invasion'' will really happen, Castro ensured that the government is ready to assist Filipinos in Taiwan.

''Sa ganyang mga contingencies, kung magaganap, kung magaganap po, lagi po tayong handa,'' she said. 

(As regards those contingencies, in case this will happen, the government is always prepared for this.) 

The Philippine government does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a democratic self-ruling island which has been separated from the Chinese mainland since 1949.

Manila, however, maintains a de-facto embassy in Taiwan called the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).

A Reuters report stated that China's military had launched military exercises code-named "Strait Thunder-2025A" in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait.

"The exercises focus on subjects of identification and verification, warning and expulsion, and interception and detention so as to test the troops' capabilities of area regulation and control, joint blockade and control, and precision strikes on key targets," the military said in a statement.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objections of the government in Taipei.The Asian Superpower claimed that Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is a "separatist,'' with Lai saying that only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. —VAL, GMA Integrated News