MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday night flagged the “poor choice of words” made by Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan, who said China could “easily win” if it wants to use force.
The envoy, in an interview in Quezon City, said the region should even feel fortunate to have China as a neighbor, saying Beijing values peace and would not use force.
The DFA said Jing’s remarks could be interpreted as a “thinly veiled threat of the use of force,” which is unhelpful in complex Philippines-China relations.
“The business of diplomacy requires tact and restraint in order to create space necessary for discourse, dialogue, and engagement, regardless of the disparity in positions or perspectives,” it said.
“It is regrettable that Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan today had a poor choice of words that would seem to convey a thinly veiled threat of the use of force, which is hardly helpful in the context of the complicated bilateral ties between the Philippines and China.”
The DFA then reminded all diplomats accredited to the Philippines to “take greater care in the language used in public statements so as not to further erode mutual trust and confidence, nor derail the advancement of dialogue and constructive engagement.”
The Philippines and China are locked in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, where the latter claims sovereignty.
Last month alone, Manila rebuked Beijing over a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel ramming a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel off the coast of Palawan, within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. (Joyce Rocamora/PNA)
