Aquino to send ‘private citizen’ as emissary to Taiwan

President Benigno Aquino III has yet to choose an emissary who will be tasked to iron out the country’s issue with Taiwan, but said he prefers that the emissary be someone who is not presently in the government. “It will most probably be a private citizen," Aquino told reporters Monday after the inauguration of the upgraded facilities of the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City. “As you know there are restrictions under the One China Policy." He said one of the candidates he is considering for the task once served the government. He also said it is possible that he will be sending “a set of people" to Taiwan. “He hasn’t agreed yet and we’re still looking for others who might be, to determine who is the best to convey all the details of the incident," Aquino said without elaborating. The emissary will explain to the Taiwan government the Philippine government’s decision to deport 14 Taiwanese suspected of fraud to mainland China despite an earlier appeal from Taiwan. Aquino admitted that the Philippine government is facing a difficult predicament balancing its relation with China and Taiwan, which hosts 80,000 Filipino workers. “That is the reality that we find ourselves in, but at the same time I think the main focus here was both states informed us of criminal activities happening on our soil," he said. The 14 Taiwanese, along with 10 Chinese nationals, were arrested December last year in the Philippines upon the request of Beijing, which accused the 24 of engaging in a multi-million dollar criminal activity using the Internet and mobile gadgets. The Taiwanese nationals were deported to China last Feb. 2 despite attempts by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) officials and lawyers to have them brought to Taiwan instead. Manila does not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a democratic self-governing island that has been separated from the Chinese mainland since 1949, but still claimed by China as part of its territory. Not a single Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which the Philippines is a member, has forged diplomatic relations with Taiwan due to the One-China Policy. China objects to any foreign contact that appears to treat Taiwan as a sovereign government. Aquino said his government’s first priority is to address criminality and getting criminals locked behind bars and sending them through the appropriate processes. - KBK, GMA News