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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
January 26, 2026 | 3:00pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has formally conveyed its displeasure over the Chinese Embassy in Manila's continued squabbling with Philippine lawmakers and officials, saying the "escalating" public exchanges risk sabotaging diplomatic efforts.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday, January 26, said it made "firm representations" to Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan — diplomatic language for a formal complaint — expressing serious concerns over the embassy's increasingly combative public statements on social media targeting Sens. Risa Hontiveros, Kiko Pangilinan, and Erwin Tulfo, among others.
According to its statement, the DFA stopped short of summoning Jing, a more severe diplomatic rebuke. China, in turn, has summoned the Philippine ambassador over a local official's remarks it deemed offensive.
Embassy's public statements draw protest
Since the start of the year, the Chinese embassy has issued lengthy public statements directly calling out or responding to Philippine officials by name on issues related to the South China Sea.
Among others, the embassy publicly accused Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela of "malicious provocations" and "attacks and smears against Chinese leaders" after he posted presentation slides featuring digitally manipulated images of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a January 16 statement, embassy deputy spokesperson Gray Wei demanded the Philippine government explain why Tarriela "is able to act so recklessly without being held accountable."
The embassy also sparred with Pangilinan after he demanded China respect the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. It also criticized Rep. Leila de Lima for what it called spreading falsehoods about the South China Sea dispute.
DFA warns against derailing diplomacy
On Monday, the DFA issued a more detailed statement on the public exchanges.
"We reiterate our previous statements affirming support for our officials to perform their lawful duties in defense of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction," the department said.
"Their views, as well as those of disagreeing voices, are an inescapable part of the robust plurality of ideas that animate our democratic society," it added.
Hostile public exchanges, the DFA noted, could "derail the diplomatic space needed to manage the tensions in the maritime domain and constructively collaborate in the non-sensitive areas of cooperation."
The department said it values "debate on our differences in national positions" but stressed the need for exchanges that do not "unnecessarily derail" diplomatic efforts.
Manila and Beijing have several non-sensitive areas of cooperation that are also at risk. The DFA noted efforts "to establish formal communication channels between their coast guards, develop scientific cooperation on ocean meteorology, and reinvigorate trade and investment ties, agricultural cooperation, and people-to-people interaction."
China summons Philippine envoy
China escalated the diplomatic row on January 22 by summoning Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz in Beijing, demanding Manila "undo the negative impact" of Tarriela's statements and "stop tolerating the smear campaign and provocations."
The head of China's Foreign Ministry Department of Asian Affairs lodged what Beijing called "solemn representations and strong protest," accusing the Philippine government of turning "a blind eye" to Tarriela making "inflammatory, confrontational, misleading and baseless remarks against China on maritime issues."
Tarriela fired back the next day, saying threats "will not intimidate us."
"It only proves that transparency is working — and that China fears an informed world more than it fears international law," he said, adding that Beijing should instead respect the 2016 arbitral ruling, withdraw from occupied features in the West Philippine Sea, and stop harassing Filipino fishermen.
