Ambassador Teodoro Locsin Jr. Contributed photo
Ambassador Teodoro Locsin Jr., the country’s top diplomat in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, will also be serving as President Marcos’ “special envoy for special concerns” to the People’s Republic of China, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
According to Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Velicaria Garafil, the President has given Locsin, a former foreign secretary, the second assignment “to boost bilateral relations between the two countries.”
Garafil did not elaborate when asked for details about Locsin’s new role, which places him in the same diplomatic circle with Jaime FlorCruz, the current Philippine ambassador to Beijing.
His new appointment came amid fresh tensions between China and the Philippines over the continued harassment of Filipino vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
During his term as foreign secretary under the Duterte administration, Manila filed a number of diplomatic protests against Beijing over such incidents, as well as over the swarm of Chinese maritime militia in Philippine waters.
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