China and Philippine relations have reached another tipping point with the congratulations proffered by President Bongbong Marcos Jr. to Taiwanese President-elect Lai Cheng-Te, a known advocate of Taiwanese independence from China.

In a mere comment on social media, our President irked and brought about a vehement objection from China, which immediately summoned our ambassador to Beijing.

In a press briefing, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson did not mince words, saying our President should “read more books” and the Philippines “should not play with fire.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi added that the China-Philippines relationship now “stands at a crossroads,” prodding the Philippines to pick its side.

This places the Philippines and our President, our country’s top diplomat, in a seemingly precarious situation, given that we have Filipino citizens working in almost every country. Our OFW situation compels us to be a friend to all and an enemy to none; otherwise, an OFW-rich country may impose an embargo on Filipino workers, leading to loss of income and remittances. Interestingly, this issue comes when we recently heralded our OFWs by giving them a VIP lounge at NAIA Terminal 1, similar to the airport lounges for business class.

In my opinion, the Philippines is not compelled to take sides, and a simple congratulatory remark to the Taiwanese President-elect must not be taken seriously, especially seeing how our sea vessels are being bullied in the West Philippine Sea. We must still respect the rich history we share with China and its people, especially during the heightened relations we enjoyed during the previous administration under President Rodrigo Duterte. The western pivot initiated by President Marcos Jr. was done with much thought and reflection, and we must likewise respect this.

Geopolitics is a complicated matter, and mere utterances can have grave consequences, but it is also a reflection of how the Philippines always appears to be at the mercy of foreign superpowers. If we look at it, other countries also congratulated the Taiwanese president-elect, but none received a scolding as harshly as the Philippines did. In the territorial disputes surrounding the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea, other countries have objected to the presence of Chinese vessels there and have, in fact, fought back, but it is our country that is most bullied.

I recall the time I failed a class in law school, which led me to file letters of appeal so I would not be dismissed. I had a conversation with the former dean, who said I should never place myself in a position of weakness where I would be at the mercy of others. This motivated me to study harder, and I eventually graduated and passed the bar exam. The Philippines is in a similar situation where we should garner all the efforts and confidence to uplift the nation and take ourselves from a “developing” to a “developed” country. We were once touted to be a tiger economy, but now we may be veering towards still being the “sick man” of Asia.

We are a product of our own doings, and if our President decides to stand by his remarks despite the violent reaction of China, then so be it. In the end, we must trust the wisdom of our leaders, for we can expect them always to have the country’s best interest. We hope this is also the intention behind the push for constitutional amendments, but this must be reserved for another column.

For comments, email him at darren.dejesus@gmail.com.