Philippines tells Beijing it is alarmed over escalating verbal tussle in South China Sea dispute

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines told China on Monday that it is alarmed about heated exchanges with Chinese diplomats in Manila over the long-standing, seething territorial dispute between the two countries in the South China Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said without elaborating that it “made firm representations to the Chinese ambassador and the Chinese Embassy conveying serious concerns with the escalation of public exchanges."

It warned that the bruising, tit-for-tat exchanges with China could “unnecessarily derail the diplomatic space needed to manage the tensions in the maritime domain," but, nevertheless, expressed support to Philippine officials, including some senators, who have defended their country's territorial interests in the South China Sea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing last week said it summoned Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz to protest remarks by Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela, one of the most vocal critics of China’s increasingly assertive actions in the disputed waters.

China has claimed virtually the entire waterway, a key global trade route, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims based on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Beijing did not participate in the arbitration, which was initiated by the Philippines in 2013 after a territorial confrontation, and continues to defy the decision.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have been involved in the territorial standoffs.

Confrontations in the high seas have particularly spiked in recent years between China and the Philippines. Unlike other claimants, the Philippine government has openly condemned China’s growing assertive actions in the disputed waters and publicized videos and pictures of the use of powerful water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers by China’s forces.

“We reiterate our previous statements affirming support for our officials to perform their lawful duties in defense of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” the Foreign Affairs department in Manila said. “Their views, as well as those of disagreeing voices, are an inescapable part of the robust plurality of ideas that animate our democratic society."

The Chinese Embassy has protested remarks by Tarriela, who it said has “persistently hyped up maritime issues, confounded right and wrong, misrepresented facts, incited confrontation, misled public opinion, undermined China’s national interests and dignity, impacted mutual trust.”

“I firmly reject your ignorant and arrogant views,” Chinese Embassy deputy spokesperson Guo Wei said of Tarriela in a recent statement.

Tarriela responded by chiding Guo Wei in a social media post.

“I am beginning to think you are enjoying to use the social media platforms here in the Philippines because you do not have such freedom in your country," he wrote.

Philippine Sen. Risa Hontiveros said in a speech Monday that Chinese diplomats have violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations when they publicly censured and tried to restrain Filipino officials’ views and criticisms in their own country.

Hontiveros also has called the Chinese Embassy “a bad guest” in the Philippines.

In a criticism of Hontiveros, the Chinese diplomatic mission in Manila recently said it has no intention of silencing anybody in the country, but it would respond to any attempt to “smear” China and its leaders.

“Are you really advocating the interest of the Philippines and the Filipinos? Or are you simply pursuing your own political gains?” the Chinese Embassy asked Hontiveros, who has been seen as a possible contender in the 2028 presidential and vice presidential elections.