Chinese ambassador: ‘Let’s sit down, manage differences’

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan on Tuesday said China and the Philippines should "find ways" to manage their differences, but also said Beijing will continue to “firmly” push back against what he called “false narratives” and “misinformation” amid recent tensions between officials of the two countries over the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking at a Chinese New Year reception on Tuesday night, Jing said the embassy would not stay silent in the face of statements it views as damaging to China.

“So, as we advance China–Philippines cooperation, sometimes we also hear some noise from time to time. Someone, it seems that they want to spread false narratives, smear China, and stoke confrontation. It is the mission of our embassy to firmly, loudly, clearly say no to those people,” he said.

Jing added that China intends to keep expanding cooperation with the Philippines, saying it hopes “positive momentum” will drown out what he described as distortions.

“We cannot allow those misinformation to mislead the public or undermine bilateral relations. At the same time, we will continue expanding practical cooperation, using positive momentum to offset those noise until such distortions find no audience and no believers,” he said.

The ambassador did not name the individuals he was referring to.

Despite the political friction, Jing said China and the Philippines should pursue what he described as serious political dialogue and work to manage differences, particularly at sea. He also raised the long-running talks on a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea, noting the Philippines’ role as ASEAN chair this year.

“Let’s sit down, Let’s talk, let’s find ways to manage differences…so this year the Philippines serves as ASEAN Chair...we all hope that we can speed up consultations on what we call COC, Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, so [hopefully] that agreement will lay a solid foundation for managing maritime differences. ”

The proposed COC is being negotiated between China and ASEAN member-states, including countries with overlapping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea based on its so-called “nine-dash line,” a position rejected by a 2016 arbitral ruling in The Hague that found China’s historic-rights claim had no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—a decision Beijing does not recognize.

First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos was among the guests attending the event, along with several ambassadors from the Philippines’ allied countries, including Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya. — BM, GMA Integrated News