Pushing the limits of COVID diplomacy, Philippines threatens to expel Chinese official
Sun Online Desk
10th April, 2021 06:50:44
The Philippines has threatened to expel a Chinese diplomatic spokesman in Manila in the latest twist of an intensifying row with the superpower over territory in the South China Sea.
The Defence and Foreign Affairs ministries in the Philippines have been up in arms for a fortnight over the presence of 220 fishing boats suspected to be manned by Chinese maritime militia at Whitsun Reef, with statements flying back and forth over the alleged incursion into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
With dozens of the vessels remaining in the area, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teddy Locsin jnr said on Wednesday he was “firing off another diplomatic protest” to China’s embassy and would continue objecting “every day until the last one’s gone like it should be by now if it is really fishing”.