China has brushed off the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)’s move to probe reports of foreign diplomats’ illegal activities in the country amid wiretapping allegations being hurled against the Chinese embassy in Manila.
The Department of National Defense (DND), the National Security Council (NSC) and several lawmakers accused China of wiretapping when it recorded a purported phone call between a Chinese diplomat and a Philippine military official and released it to the media.
Asked about Beijing’s comment on DFA’s move, Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, instead said that “the information released by the Chinese Embassy in Manila is factual.”
“Whether it’s the ‘gentlemen’s agreement,’ or the internal understandings, or the ‘new model’ on properly managing the situation in the South China Sea, they all have clear timelines and are supported by solid evidence,” Wang said in a press conference Thursday.
“No one can deny their existence,” he added.
Wang claimed that the “persistent denial and breach of commitment” and the continued blame on China—which has been conducting aggressive actions in the Philippine waters—lshows exactly who is acting in bad faith.”