Are OFWs safe in Taiwan?

‘China continues to violate Taiwan’s air defence zone’

MANILA - Are Filipino workers safe in Taiwan amid the brewing tension in South China Sea and China’s aggression towards the island nation? Yes, if you asked Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) Chairman and Resident Representative Silvestre Bello III, who allayed concerns about the safety of Filipinos in Taiwan amid brewing tensions with neighboring China.

Bello said the Philippine government, through MECO, is looking out for the welfare and well-being of the Filipinos there. “So we would like to assure you, everyone. I’ll take this opportunity to inform you… in Taiwan everything is normal and, if in the remote possibility na magkaroon ng emergency situation, like for example earthquake, mga lindol o even war, preparado po ang Taiwan government not only in protecting their own people but even the Filipinos, especially our workers,” he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr during the combined joint littoral live fire exercise between the United States and the Philippines in April in San Antonio town in Zambales province, just 495 nautical miles from Taiwan.

MECO is the duly designated instrumentality to promote and protect Philippine interests in Taiwan and is authorized and conferred with authority to perform functions usually carried out by Filipino foreign missions but of a non-political, non-security in nature.  

Warning

Just last month, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian warned the Marcos administration that Washington is stoking the fire and through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Manila, intends to interfere in the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

Huang even advised the Philippines to oppose Taiwan independence. “The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence rather than stoking the fire by offering the U.S. access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs,” he said.

Safe

According to Bello, the National Police Agency of Taiwan has assured him the protection and security of the Filipinos in the self-ruled island nation. “I met with the Director General together with the head of the Home Civilian Defense of Taiwan and they assured us na iyong ating mga kababayan ay protektado nila,” he said, adding, that Taiwan has 89,000 shelters that can accommodate more than its total population.

Bello said 90% of the factories in Taiwan - the biggest microchip manufacturer in the world - are serviced by Filipino workers. He said roughly 160,000 OFWs are in factories and all the rest are highly skilled teachers, farmers, and workers in the hospitality industry.

“So, huwag po kayong mag-alala… everything is normal, our OFWs there are safe and there is no danger of what you call confrontation between China and Taiwan,” he said.

Friend to all

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recently raised the need to continue developing cooperation on an international scale to resolve soaring tensions in Taiwan. He said there is a need to “fix the arrangements, our alliances, so that they conform to the needs of the day. And that again, comes back again to that process of evolution.”

He reiterated the administration’s foreign policy that “the Philippines shall continue to be a friend to all, and an enemy of none.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last month said no Filipino in Taiwan is seeking government help for repatriation as of yet amid the current cross-strait tensions. The DFA also reassured the public that contingency plans have been in place in areas where there is a high concentration of Filipino workers, including Taiwan.

Invasion

According to The Interpreter, which features daily commentary and analysis on international issues, the People’s Liberation Army in February sent 20 aircraft across the median line dividing Taiwan from the Chinese mainland.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry responded to the incursion by putting its own forces on a heightened state of alert, scrambling its own fighter jets and activating air defence systems. 

This breach of Taiwan’s so-called air defence identification zone (ADIZ), a large area encompassing the entire Taiwan Strait and a part of Chinese territory, is only the latest in what has become a fairly common occurrence.

The median line, meant to be a temporary aberration, is no longer respected by the PLA. In 2020, China conducted 380 incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ. In 2021, that number more than doubled to 960. Last year saw the most ADIZ incursions in history, with 1,727 breaches of the zone.

China’s objectives include wearing down Taiwan’s military capacity (particularly its air force) in order to weaken the island’s readiness, ensure the PLA is prepared to execute a military operation if necessary, and reiterate the message that the Taiwan issue is an absolute core priority of the Chinese Communist Party. (Mindanao Examiner)