MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday said US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan merely demonstrated the intensity of tensions in the region.

“To be perfectly candid, I did not think it raised the intensity, it just demonstrated … How the intensity of that conflict has been,” Marcos told United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Manila for an official visit.

• Philippines maintains adherence to One-China principle: Malacañang
• Palace says closely monitoring China-Taiwan row

“It actually has been at that level for a good while, but we got used to it and put it aside.”

On Friday, China announced sanctions against Pelosi for allegedly “interfering in China's internal affairs and seriously undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

This developed after Pelosi claimed that the United States will "not allow" China to isolate Taiwan.

"They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there," she told reporters in Taipei.

"We will not allow them to isolate Taiwan," she said.

Pelosi’s visit to Taipei — which China sees its own territory — has also prompted Beijing to launch its biggest military exercises at least 20 kilometers off Taiwanese coasts.

• US Secretary of State Blinken arrives in Philippines

WATCH

Watch more News on iWantTFC