The Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan on Tuesday accused the Philippine side of deliberately provoking a confrontation at China's Ren'ai Jiao in the South China Sea on Monday as he gave reporters a recount of the incident.
Speaking to the media in Manila, Jing said the Philippine side attempted to reinforce an illegally grounded military vessel at Ren'ai Jiao in violation of the provisional arrangement reached with China in July 2024.
Under the agreement, the Philippines is strictly limited to sending food, water and other essential humanitarian supplies for the troops stationed on the grounded warship.
However, on Monday, two boats from the grounded Philippine vessel approached a China Coast Guard (CCG) patrol boat in a dangerous manner and rammed it, despite repeated clear warnings. The Philippine side then violently attacked Chinese law enforcement officers.
In response, the CCG said it took measures including issuing verbal warnings, carrying out vessel maneuvers and undertaking reciprocal countermeasures to stabilize the situation, exercising maximum restraint and acting in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Jing detailed to the media the sequence of events that led to the latest confrontation, saying that video and photographic evidence unequivocally points to the Filipinos as the provocateurs.
"You know why it happened? Yesterday morning at like 9 a.m., our people found your soldiers. They're building some kind of barrier nets and they're doing some kind of construction work in the ship. So, we sent two boats to check what happened because that's against the spirit of our provisional agreement that [there should be] no new construction. OK, we'll agree to the resupply [work within the] agreement, but we found they're doing something new. Then they sent boats and people to challenge us, ask us to leave, to provoke [the situation], then something happened. So, that's the whole story," he told reporters.
Jing said he met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday, with the two sides having an in-depth and thorough exchange of views on the incident and the broader bilateral relationship.
Under the current circumstances, Jing said the key is to find a way to stabilize the downward trend in bilateral ties and bring them back on the right track, rather than being led down the wrong path by ill-intentioned forces.
Despite the fresh friction, the ambassador reaffirmed China's unwavering commitment to advancing negotiations on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, saying that China's willingness to complete the talks by the end of this year remains unchanged.
Chinese ambassador says Philippines provoked latest confrontation
Chinese ambassador says Philippines provoked latest confrontation
