China envoy protests Philippine lawmakers visit to Spratlys

MANILA, Philippines—China’s ambassador to the Philippines met on Tuesday with Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos to express Beijing’s “serious concern” over the “peace and sovereignty” mission scheduled to be conducted Wednesday by a group of party-list congressmen in disputed territories in the Western Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Conejos said Ambassador Liu Jianchao called on him at the Department of Foreign Affairs to convey China’s concern over the Spratlys trip of the lawmakers led by Akbayan.

Conejos is acting foreign secretary.

“We have explained to the Chinese ambassador that we leave it to the discretion of the members who went to the Spratlys to take into consideration the existing situation there,” Conejos said in the “Pilipinas Natin” special program aired on government television and held at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang.

Conejos told reporters later he explained to Liu that the country has a system where its legislature is a co-equal branch of the executive.

“I told him I will convey their sentiments to our Secretary, which I did,” he said.

Conejos said he did not think this incident would ruffle relations between Manila and Beijing.

He said that he stressed during the television program that the ties between the two countries were just like relationships within families and friends and that “this should not be pigeonholed to a certain issue.”