Photo from PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela's Facebook page
China has summoned Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Jaime FlorCruz over what it believed were "inflammatory" remarks made by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and West Philippine Sea spokesman Jay Tarriela.
Tarriela has long been vocal in calling out China's aggression in the West Philippine Sea. But Beijing's move came specifically at a time when it took offense at the caricature image of Chinese President Xi Jinping that Tarriela displayed during a talk with Filipino students.
Both the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Manila decried Tarriela's action, saying it constituted "a serious violation of China's political dignity and a blatant political provocation, which has crossed the red line.”
In a statement on Thursday night, Jan. 22, Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said their Asian Affairs Department summoned FlorCruz, with whom they lodged "serious protest."
It did so after claiming that "the Philippine side has long turned a blind eye to its Coast Guard 'spokesperson' making inflammatory, confrontational, misleading, and baseless remarks against China on maritime issues."
"China does not accept that," Guo said.
The ministry also demanded the Philippine government to "undo the negative impact ASAP (as soon as possible)" the results of Tarriela's actions, as well as "stop tolerating the smear campaign and provocations."
"Lest they disrupt normal diplomatic communication or further harm bilateral relations," Guo added.
Early this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had expressed its support to publicly elected Philippine officials amid word wars between the Chinese embassy in Manila and various Filipino officials.