“Easily win”: Manila rebukes China's ambassador over veiled threat
China's ambassador said Beijing could easily win a conflict with the Philippines but wants peace. The foreign ministry in Manila calls it a thinly veiled threat.
Symbolic image · Photo: Patrick Roque / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has publicly rebuked China's ambassador in Manila, Jing Quan. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Second Diliman Dialogue in Quezon City, Jing said China could “easily win” if it used force but would not do so because it loves peace. The region should feel fortunate to have China as a neighbour, he reportedly said.
It was regrettable that the ambassador had “a poor choice of words” that seemed to convey a “thinly veiled threat of the use of force”, the ministry said late on Thursday evening. “The business of diplomacy requires tact and restraint,” it added. All diplomats accredited in Manila were urged to take greater care in their public statements so as not to further erode mutual trust.
At the same time, the Chinese embassy attacked Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela on X, accusing him of distorting facts. Where differences exist, both sides should sit down and talk, it said. Manila and Beijing have been locked in territorial disputes in the South China Sea for years. In September, the Philippines protested after a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed a Philippine fisheries vessel off Palawan.