After getting pummeled in the strategy to expose its increasingly aggressive posture, China has turned on key officials of the successful transparency offensive.

China on Friday lodged a diplomatic protest against Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela, accusing him of “attacking and smearing” China’s leader in his social media posts, which constitutes a “blatant political provocation” that has “crossed the red line.”

“In the face of Tarriela’s malicious provocations, we must ask: as a spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard, do his smears and slanders against China and its leader represent the stance of the Philippine government?” the Chinese embassy in Manila said.

“China expresses strong indignation and strongly deplores this, and has lodged solemn representations with the Malacañang Palace, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Philippine Coast Guard,” it added.

The filing followed a 14 January Facebook post by Tarriela of an AI-generated photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping at a forum at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde where he was the keynote speaker and discussed the territorial dispute in the WPS and the Chinese aggression against Philippine troops.

The embassy charged that Tarriela “persistently hyped up maritime issues, confounded right and wrong, misrepresented facts, incited confrontation, misled public opinion,” which jeopardized the diplomatic efforts to strengthen China-Philippines bilateral ties and de-escalate tensions in the disputed South China Sea (SCS).

“China once again reiterates that China and the Philippines should choose peace over conflict, dialogue over confrontation, and cooperation over tension,” the embassy said.

Tarriela retorts

In response, Tarriela said China’s protests were a veiled effort to “deflect” the issue from their relentless “aggressive and illegal actions” in the West Philippine Sea.

He also retaliated with an accusation, arguing that China’s seeking the intervention of the Philippine government over his “personal and professional” views in the WPS is nothing but interference in violation of Article 41(1) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

The provision explicitly stipulates that state parties to the treaty are prohibited from interfering in the host state’s internal affairs. Both the Philippines and China are parties to the Vienna Convention.

“This is not legitimate diplomacy; it is an effort to intimidate and suppress truthful reporting on matters of Philippine sovereignty,” Tarriela