The Chinese government has summoned the Philippines’ envoy to Beijing over supposed negative remarks about China.

The Chinese embassy in Manila confirmed Friday, April 12, that China’s Foreign Ministry Director General for the Department of Asian Affairs Liu Jinsong met with Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz, who made solemn representations in response to the summon.

Both the embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) have not provided further details about the meeting as of this writing. But the Chinese embassy said the reason for the summon was due to the joint statement issued by President Marcos, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida following their historic trilateral summit.

In another statement, the embassy disclosed that China and the Philippines had agreed this year to follow “a new model” in the management of Beijing’s continued dispute over the West Philippine Sea.

But the Philippines still broke it words, just like it did when the latter did not tow away the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal and stop sending construction materials to it, the embassy said.

Reporters sough for clarification regarding the so-called “new model,” but the embassy has not given other details yet.

The embassy also maintained that a gentleman’s agreement, which it confirmed was reached during the Duterte administration, had kept the sea row from escalating, not until the Marcos administration eventually refused to abide by it.

“In the beginning of the current Philippine Administration, the said Agreement was still followed in handling the resupply mission of Ren’ai Jiao,” the embassy’s statement read.

“But since February 2023, the Philippine side has ceased to abide by the Agreement, categorically denied its existence, and kept stirring up trouble to provoke incidents. This is the reason behind the constant volatility in Ren’ai Jiao in the past year,” it added.

The DFA has yet to respond to the allegation.

China’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it “never bullies other countries” before pinning the blame on the Philippines for the current tension in the West Philippine Sea.

The ministry claimed that the Philippines had “induced external forces to interfere in the South China Sea issue and intruded into relevant islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao.”

The Philippines has sought assistance from allies, including the United States, in upholding rule of law and asserting its rights over the West Philippine Sea, a part of the bigger South China Sea.

“The South China Sea is a shared home for countries in the region. We stay committed to resolving differences properly through dialogue and consultation and are firmly opposed to external interference and provocations that create regional tensions,” the ministry said.

China’s Defense Ministry then claimed that the Philippines activated a propaganda machine against China supposedly to hype up the so-called “the big bullying the small” and played victim.

“The Chinese side is strongly opposed to this. The settlement of the South China Sea issue should be based on reasons, not sizes,” it said.

The Philippines has been active in publishing China’s harassment on Filipino troops in the West Philippine Sea, including its dangerous maneuvers and water cannon attacks that had once led to damaging of Philippine boat and the injury of Filipino crew.

“China never bullies other countries,” the ministry said.

It then warned that it will not allow “the Philippine side to act willfully,” as it said “you can count on the Chinese military to keep our word on safeguarding national sovereignty and security.”