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Philippines: Chief of Diplomacy vulgarly ordered Chinese to flee Filipino seawaters
Author:Mariusz Dasiewicz
Foreign Minister Teodoro Loksin Jr. commented on the Chinese presence in the Philippine waters of the exclusive economic zone on Twitter. "China, friends, how to put this politely?" began Loksin an English-language tweet. "Wyp..." ("get the f... out") – he finished.
A 72-year-old diplomat thus commented on Chinese activity in the Philippines' due South China Sea waters; the government in Manila calls it the West Philippine Sea. At the same time, he accused Beijing of carrying out the same actions for which he criticized the Philippines and compared the communist government to "an ugly fool".
Some commenting netizens congratulated Loksin on his courage, others paid attention to the language not fitting the head of the MFA. Some observers see in such rhetoric the imitation of so-called wolf diplomacy, that is, the confrontational way in which China has presented its position internationally in recent years.
A non-graduate statement was made during the tensions and exchange of notes between the two countries over the disputed situation. In March, about 200 Chinese boats and other units were detected in the Scarborough shoal area, lying within the Filipino Special Economic Zone. In late April Filipino Polish Navy and Coast Guard they started exercises in this area.
Tweet Loksina went online on Monday, just after the ministry headed by him rejected Beijing's claim to the Philippine islands and lying about 240 km from the main island of Scarborough's shallow country. The diplomatic and military response of China to ongoing maneuvers was also criticised.
The Manila authorities have accused the Chinese of tracking Filipino crews. According to the MFA statement, Chinese ship crews were also to attempt to block the units involved in the exercise, make dangerous maneuvers and broadcast confrontational radio communications. According to CNN Philippines, about 300 Filipino sailors have been involved in training for over a week.
On April 26, China criticised the maneuvers demanding that the government in Manila "stop the complex actions leading to the escalation of disputes". These demands were rejected two days later by the Philippine Defense Minister of the Dolphin Lorenzana.
On 29 April, the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, spoke. He stated that although his country has a debt to China for many reasons, including providing free vaccines against coronavirus, the national interest cannot be the object of negotiations. As he added, Manila will not withdraw ships from the waters that under international maritime law lie within the Filipino special economic zone.
Beijing complains to 90% of the South China Sea area, including waters under the applicable international law of the surrounding countries – outside the Philippines also Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. The Chinese built many artificial islands there, building military infrastructure on them
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague dismissed China's territorial claims against the Philippines. However, the Beijing authorities ignored his ruling and incidents continue to occur in the disputed area.
Source: PAP
