Minister Blade Nzimande: Science and Innovation Dept Budget Vote 2023/24 gov.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gov.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MANILA - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) chided a columnist on Thursday following his "malicious and groundless comments" over the country's diplomatic protests against Beijing's illegal activities in the South China Sea. The concerned column, titled "DFA protests controlled by the US State Department", was penned by Phil-BRICS Strategic Studies Director Mario Ferdinand Pasion in his New World column in the Manila Times on June 12. In a statement, the DFA said diplomatic protests are lodged automatically once a "transgression" by a foreign country has been verified. "Most of the Department's protests have been undertaken against China, simply because it is the country that has been conducting the most illegal and provocative actions in the WPS (West Philippine Sea)," it said. "These activities range from the harassment of Filipino fishermen, shadowing and harassment of PH maritime assets, unauthorized marine scientific re