China has summoned the Philippine ambassador to Beijing, escalating its protest over what it described as Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela’s “smear” and “provocation” against Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing called in Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz on Thursday, urging the Philippines to stop what it called “turning a blind eye” to and “tolerating” Tarriela’s alleged orchestration of a “smear campaign” against Chinese leaders, particularly Xi.

Chinese officials accused Tarriela of “making inflammatory, confrontational, misleading and baseless remarks against China on maritime issues,” which Beijing said were “unacceptable.”

“Time for the Philippine side to undo the negative impact as soon as possible and stop tolerating the smear campaign and provocations, lest they disrupt normal diplomatic communication or further harm bilateral relations,” Guo said.

Thursday’s protest came a week after an earlier diplomatic démarche, which Beijing said was triggered by Tarriela’s Facebook post on 14 January.

The post showed Tarriela presenting an AI-generated satirical image of Xi bearing the text “Why China remains to be bully?” during a forum at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

The Chinese Embassy said Tarriela’s “malicious” social media posts against China have been recurring, but argued that the latest post constituted a “blatant political provocation” that had “crossed the red line.”

The embassy further accused Tarriela of “persistently hyping up maritime issues, confounding right and wrong, misrepresenting facts, inciting confrontation, and misleading public opinion,” actions it said undermine diplomatic efforts to improve China-Philippines relations and de-escalate tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), however, said it supports Tarriela and other government officials and institutions “performing their lawful duties in defense of Philippine sovereignty.”

The DFA added that differences between the Philippines and China should be addressed through diplomatic channels rather than public exchanges.

Tarriela dismissed the Chinese Embassy’s protest, saying it was an attempt to “deflect” attention from Beijing’s “aggressive and illegal actions” in the contested waters of the West Philippine Sea.

He also said China’s move to seek intervention from the Philippine government over his “personal and professional” views violated Article 41(1) of the Vienna Convention, which prohibits interference in a state’s internal affairs. Both the Philippines and China are parties to the convention.

Tarriela further argued that accusations of “smears” or “slanders” were misplaced, saying incidents reported in the West Philippine Sea were factual and “backed by video evidence, photographs,” and satellite imagery from other countries.

The Philippines and China have long been locked in a maritime dispute over the South China Sea, which overlaps with the West Philippine Sea.

China continues to assert jurisdiction over the area despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims over most of the South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

Despite agreements aimed at de-escalating tensions, the Philippines has accused China of continuing aggressive actions, including the use of water cannons, military-grade lasers, and missile deployments against Philippine vessels and troops.