The word war between a Chinese diplomat in Manila and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela just doesn't stop.

Guo Wei, deputy spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, on Friday night, Jan. 3, engaged in yet another argument with Tarriela on social media, which started as far back as Christmas, Dec. 25.

They argued over the legality of two separate incidents of Chinese vessels’ passage into the Philippine waters, particularly on Dec. 25 when People's Liberation Army Navy (LYAN) Luyang III-class guided-missile destroyer with bow number 174 provided humanitarian assistance to distressed Filipino fishers in the waters off Zambales, and on Dec. 30 when Chinese Research Vessel (CRV) Tan Suo Er Hao was spotted off the coast of Cagayan province.

Making his sixth comment, through the Chinese Embassy in Manila's social media pages, since the issue came out, Guo laid out various points that argued why the Chinese vessels' passages were legal and why Tarriela's comments were supposedly invalid.

"Glad to see you finally responded to my questions, albeit after 90 long hours," Guo started.

Prior to this, Tarriela, on various social media posts, questioned the intent of China's assistance to Filipino fishers, asked why they were inside the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and why it did so without first telling the Philippine government, and just called it a publicity stunt.

The PCG spokesman also reported the illegal presence of the Chinese research vessel in the country's maritime domain without prior consent of the Philippine government, and hit Guo for citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as China's basis for doing so, where in fact, it is the same international law that it fails to recognize in terms of arbitral award on the West Philippine Sea.

According to Guo, Tarriela had kept insisting that China did not provide prior information to the Philippines during its Dec. 25 rescue, although it already released the recording of such communication audio.

"Of course, you had to admit that communication was made, only to add that Philippine PCG vessel was 'in the vicinity.' How convenient. China located the fisherman at around 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 25, and provided assistance without delay. By the Philippine side’s own account, the fisherman was not rescued until 2:15 p.m. How close? Close enough to wait nearly 2 hours?" Guo asked.

"What is puzzling is how a straightforward humanitarian act has been repeatedly twisted and politicized. So what precisely is the issue? That the rescue was conducted by Chinese ship, and the person rescued happened to be Filipino?" he added.

Regarding the Dec. 30 spotting of the Chinese research vessel off Cagayan, Guo said it was "simply conducting normal passage," and Tarriela's narrative "of conflating the right of normal passage in the said water with the sovereign rights of the Philippines’ claimed EEZ is wrong."

"These are two different issues," said Guo, "China does not recognize the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, which designates the Balintang Strait as the only strait for international passage."

"The Bashi Channel, Balintang Strait and Babuyan Strait in northern Philippines together form the Luzon Strait—long recognized as straits used for international navigation. Under international law, including UNCLOS, China enjoys the right of Archipelagic Sea Lanes Passage (ASLP)," he said.

Guo also said that the waters where the Chinese research vessel was spotted was not the disputed waters between China and the Philippines.

"You seem to frame everything as part of the 'China–Philippines maritime dispute' narrative," said Guo. But he also claimed that "even if we were to discuss that, China’s South China Sea claims are backed by solid historical and legal grounds."

Amid China's repeated harassment of Filipino fishers and troops in the West Philippine Sea and its encroachment into the country's territory, Guo said, their actions in the waters "have consistently complied with international law and Chinese domestic law."

"We reject labels like 'illegal' or 'coercive.' You know perfectly well what actually happened on the scene," he said.

Guo then issued "a word of advice" to Tarriela, saying he should "stop spreading misinformation and disinformation, misleading the public and deliberately fueling hostility between the Chinese and Filipino peoples—before your words do more damage than anything else ever could."

"Those malicious schemes, lies, and cheap tricks meant to pit China against the Philippines may work for a moment, but they are bound to fail in the end," he said.