China has warned it would be “dangerous” to implicate the Taiwan question in the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines.

In a statement, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of the Philippines said last week that “the Taiwan question is not and should never become an issue between China and the Philippines” as it is “starkly different in nature” from the maritime differences between China and the Philippines.

The embassy also said that it “is purely an internal affair of China that does not brook any external interference.”

Meanwhile, the “maritime differences are between China and the Philippines that can be compared to spat between neighbors, while the Taiwan question is completely domestic.”

“Distinction between the two must not be blurred,” it said in its statement Wednesday, March 20.

China’s statement came after it said it noticed “with deep concern some jarring noise by certain individuals in the Philippines acting in contravention of the one-China principle under the disguise of economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchange.”

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met recently with Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., in Manila, the Philippines. 

Secretary Blinken and President Marcos emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Philippine Alliance to security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and underscored their shared commitment to upholding international law in the South China Sea.

The spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in the Philippines made a statement regarding Antony Blinken’s remarks on the South China Sea Issue, mentioning that “the US is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in the maritime issues between China and the Philippines.”

“The recent tension in the South China Sea would not have occurred without the US egging on the Philippines,” the spokesperson added.

Recently four Filipino crewmen were said to have been injured in the confrontation that took place at Ayungin Shoal. The Philippines said that dangerous manoeuvres by China Coast Guard vessels caused two collisions with Philippine boats, leaving four crew injured during a resupply mission in the South China Sea.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in a regular press conference on March 4 said that China’s position on the recent situation at South China Sea is that the Philippines has frequently made provocative moves in the South China Sea, infringing on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.