China shrugs off ban on envoy
The Chinese Embassy on Wednesday brushed aside reports that a senior Chinese diplomat has been banned by the Department of Foreign Affairs from future meetings at the DFA for alleged rude behavior.
Ethan Y. Sun, embassy spokesperson, told the Inquirer they “don’t want to comment on the remarks of someone who hides his or her name.”
Sun was apparently referring to an unnamed Philippine diplomat who had filed a complaint against Li Yongsheng, head of the embassy’s political section.
DFA officials had assailed Li for allegedly raising his voice at the Philippine diplomat last month while discussing reports of Chinese intrusions in Manila-claimed areas of the Spratly islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
A memorandum from the DFA’s Asian and Pacific Affairs office said that Li had exhibited “conduct unbecoming a diplomat” and that his mission had been informed he would not be allowed to attend future meetings at the foreign office.
Sense of responsibility
On Wednesday, Sun, also deputy chief of the embassy’s political section, pointed out that “each and every diplomat in the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines is working with every sense of sincerity and responsibility for the improvement of China-Philippines friendly relations.”
He also expressed confidence that ties between Manila and Beijing would remain strong.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has been informed of the incident but has declined to comment.
Sought for comment, Raul Hernandez, the DFA’s new spokesperson, quoted Del Rosario as saying, “The story has no constructive value and, as such, we will not comment.”
The diplomatic snub follows Philippine allegations of increasingly forceful Chinese actions in resource-rich areas of the South China Sea that are claimed by both countries.
The Philippines has accused Chinese forces of opening fire on Filipino fishermen, shadowing an oil exploration vessel employed by a Philippine firm, and putting up structures in Philippine-claimed areas.
Harassment
In the latest incident, it said an unidentified foreign plane harassed a group of Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea last month with a flyover that the Navy said was a plain warning.
President Aquino has asked Del Rosario to explore ways of peacefully settling the territorial dispute during the latter’s three-day official visit to China.
Del Rosario is scheduled to leave today (Thursday) for China to help prepare for Mr. Aquino’s visit to Beijing either “in late August or early September.”
The President had called for a peaceful resolution to the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, but said some of China’s actions in the area were “unjustifiable.”
“We will present (data on Beijing’s intrusions) and then bring these to the appropriate body, which most of the time is the United Nations,” he said.
But Mr. Aquino said it would do no good to engage China in a verbal tussle, noting “it will just increase if we engage in a verbal jostle.” With AFP report
