Marcos to meet China envoy; Palace says meeting set before West PH Sea incident

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is scheduled to meet Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan in Malacañang on Tuesday afternoon, just a day after Manila and Beijing called out each other over an encounter in the West Philippine Sea.

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed the meeting, even as she clarified that it had been arranged before the confrontation between Chinese and Philippine forces near Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) on Monday, July 20.

Details of the meeting's agenda were not immediately disclosed.

Just hours earlier, Malacañang conveyed that Marcos has condemned the Ayungin encounter, expressing support for earlier statements issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of National Defense, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

This developed as China announced that it has summoned Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz in Beijing over the incident, which left a Filipino Navy sailor injured after being struck on the head with a wooden baton by China Coast Guard personnel.

The AFP said the China Coast Guard personnel struck first. The DFA described any act of violence against Filipino personnel as "unacceptable" and said it would pursue the appropriate diplomatic action.

For its part, China claimed the Philippine side initiated the confrontation and accused Manila of distorting the facts.

"The Philippine side provoked the incident first, yet has turned around and made counter-accusations, distorted the facts and engaged in malicious hype," the Chinese foreign ministry said.

China's foreign ministry called the actions taken by the Philippines "egregious in nature."

Manila has recently filed a diplomatic protest over an alleged "racist" video posted by Chinese state media wherein the Philippines was portrayed as an AI-generated cartoon monkey under the beck and call of foreign powers. — with a report from Reuters/ VDV, GMA News