By JEAN MANGALUZ, GMA News
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The Chinese Embassy has released a statement amid talks of possibly declaring Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan persona non grata after his comments were perceived by some lawmakers as "threats" against the Philippines.
"Some senators and house representatives are talking about declaring the Chinese ambassador persona non grata. Is this threat or coercion?" the Chinese Embassy said in a social media post.
"But anyway, just do it. Otherwise, STOP BLUFFING," it added.
The challenge stemmed from Ambassador's statement wherein he said that China would "easily win" if tensions escalated in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Philippine officials and government agencies have slammed what seemed to be an apparent "threat."
The Chinese Embassy, meanwhile, also targeted Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela in a series of posts.
The Chinese Embassy took a screenshot of a translated Facebook post from Tarriela dated October 17, saying that it was the Philippines that threatened Jing.
“This is a threat. Jay Tarriela admitted it. Key point: You don't like being threatened. Even when there is no threat, you still create one—but you absolutely love threatening others, including Chinese workers, teachers, fishermen and diplomats,” the Chinese Embassy wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday morning.
But Tarriela was quick to correct this post from the embassy.
“Lost in translation, or just consistently lying, Ambassador Jing Quan? Chinongaling!” Tarriela fired back.
Tarriela’s original post was a response to the Chinese Embassy’s challenge of declaring Quan persona non grata. It originally read as follows: “Ganito kayabang ang dayuhang Ambassador habang nasa loob ng sarili nating bansa. Matapos tayong pagbantaan, siya pa ngayon ang nagmamalaki at hinahamon pa ang isang buong sangay ng ating pamahalaan, ang Lehislatura.”
(This is how boastful the foreign Ambassador is while inside our own country. After threatening us, he is the one being prideful and challenging an entire branch of government, the Legislature.)
Apart from various lawmakers, both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense have already slammed Jing's statement, with the former calling it a thinly veiled threat.
With China continuing to claim most of the West Philippine Sea for itself, tensions between Manila and Beijing have escalated. Confrontations between Chinese and Filipino vessels in the West Philippine Sea have become a regular occurrence.
Despite the Philippines winning its case for the West Philippine Sea in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016, China has continuously disregarded the ruling. --VAL, GMA News