Marcos against calling China envoy ‘persona non grata’–spox
President Marcos has rejected calls to declare Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan persona non grata over the escalating word war between the diplomat and some Philippine officials and legislators on the West Philippine Sea dispute.
This developed as Manila and Beijing resumed formal bilateral talks on maritime concerns and other areas of mutual interest, as part of the Philippine hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meetings this year.
Malacañang press officer Claire Castro on Friday said that when she asked Marcos for his reaction to the idea floated by some lawmakers, the President gave a firm “no” before she could even finish her question.
Asked if the President would oppose other government units taking that course of action against Jing, Castro said “the President’s answer regarding the call to declare an ambassador persona non grata is ‘no.’”
Senate, Kalayaan actions
Castro conveyed the President’s stand on the matter following a week that saw Jing being castigated at the Senate and later declared unwelcome by local officials of Kalayaan, an island group making up a municipality in the West Philippine Sea.
On Monday, 15 senators signed a resolution introduced by Sen. Risa Hontiveros expressing the chamber’s disapproval of Jing’s recent public statements for being contrary to “principles of mutual respect and noninterference” among nations.
On Wednesday, the municipal council of Kalayaan, Palawan, approved a resolution declaring Jing persona non grata for “violations of diplomatic protocols and affront to Philippine officials.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier warned that such official censure of Chinese diplomatic personnel carries serious implications—including possible countermeasures that could hurt the country’s strategic interests—and should be considered only as a last resort.
In Cebu, after a one-year pause, the DFA represented by Undersecretary Leo Herrera Lim and the Chinese Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs represented by Director Hou Yanqi met on the sidelines of the Philippine-chaired ministers meeting of the Asean.
The Asean meeting continued talks on the adoption of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea, the long-sought framework designed to manage disputes and avert armed encounters in the strategic, resource-rich waterway.
“They underscored the importance of sustained diplomatic dialogue and continued cooperation across all sectors,” the DFA said in a statement Thursday night, referring to Lim and Yangi’s meeting.
The Chinese Embassy, meanwhile, noted that talks resumed in the political dialogue between the two nations after more than a year in hiatus.
“The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on maritime affairs and other issues of mutual interest and agreed to continue to maintain communication through diplomatic channels,” it said in a statement.
In a speech last week, Ambassador Jing, who assumed the Manila posting in December last year, expressed a commitment to fast-track the negotiations on the COC during the Philippine chairmanship of Asean this year.
Jing noted that consultations on the matter had become “more frequent and more intensive.” —WITH A REPORT FROM Kathleen De Villa
