Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that he would like to stress again that no matter how the DPP authorities collude with external forces to seek "diplomatic breakthroughs" and advance their separatist agenda in whatever form, such attempts will be all in vain and doomed to fail.

The remarks were made when asked to comment on reports that Lin Chia-lung, head of the so-called "foreign affairs" department of the Taiwan regional authorities, in a recent interview confirmed the plan to set up a "representative's office" in the central Philippine province of Cebu, which will serve as a platform to deepen ties through the "Taiwan-Philippines economic corridor." 

"We also urge the Philippine side to abide by the one-China principle with concrete actions, and refrain from taking any steps that could harm China-Philippines relations," Guo said when answering the question from Global Times.

The engagement between the Philippines and Taiwan regional authorities should not be viewed in isolation, but against the backdrop of deeper US and Japanese involvement in regional affairs. In recent years, Manila has not only stepped up its moves in the South China Sea but has also increasingly tested Beijing's red lines on the Taiwan question, a shift driven by both domestic political considerations and encouragement from Washington and Tokyo, Ding Duo, director of the Research Center for International and Regional Issues at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times. 

He warned that while much of the engagement between Philippines and Taiwan regional authorities is currently framed around economic and trade cooperation, he cautioned that it could gradually extend into the political and security spheres.