China on calls to expel diplomats in PH: Stop provocations and infringements

This frame grab from handout video footage taken and released on April 30, 2024 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Bagacay (C) being hit by water cannon from Chinese coast guard vessels near the chinese-controlled Scarborough shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines said the China Coast Guard fired water cannon on April 30 at two of its vessels, causing damage to one of them, during a patrol near a reef off the Southeast Asian country. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — China’s foreign ministry has asked the Philippines to “stop provocations and infringements” amid calls for the expulsion of Chinese diplomats in the country due to an alleged disinformation campaign.

“The Philippines’ response shows exactly their guilty conscience in the face of facts and evidence and how exasperated and desperate they have become,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference on May 10.

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“We ask the Philippines to ensure that Chinese diplomats can carry out their duty normally, and to stop provocations and infringements,” he added.

He further said that the country “needs to quit denying the facts and must not make reckless moves that will only backfire on the Philippines itself.”

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said on Friday the Chinese embassy’s action of releasing “spurious transcripts or recordings of purported conversations between officials of the host country—should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned or without serious penalty.”

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“Those individuals in the Chinese Embassy responsible for violating Philippine laws and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately,” he said in a statement.