The Chinese Embassy in Manila thumbed down suggestions to impose sanctions against Filipino legislators embroiled in an increasingly verbal row with Beijing officials, but only for now.

Embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said such a proposal implies censorship that goes against China’s policy of promoting constructive dialogue with Philippine officials, though he clarified that this does not weaken their resolve to take reciprocal measures against them.

“It’s not our option. At least not now. This is a debate. They have the freedom to express their views, and we have the freedom to respond,” Ji averred.

“No one should be silenced. Diplomacy is based on reciprocity. Words for words, actions for actions,” he added.

Ji’s remarks followed recommendations to ban the entry of legislators critical of China, as well as their family members, to Hong Kong and Macao.

The proposed sanctions also include freezing their property in China and prohibiting Chinese nationals and institutions from doing business with the concerned officials.

Banned

In a tit-for-tat move, the embassy last week banned 16 officials of Kalayaan in Palawan — the country’s most remote and least populated town located in the West Philippine Sea — from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macao.

The municipal officials were signatories to a resolution passed in late January declaring Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan persona non grata in Kalayaan for allegedly interfering in Philippine internal affairs, in violation of Article 41, Section 1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The provision explicitly stipulates that state parties to the treaty are bound not to interfere in the host state’s internal affairs. Both the Philippines and China are parties to the treaty.

The retaliatory move, however, sparked concerns of a possible intensification of the verbal confrontation between Philippine officials and the Chinese embassy, which has been trading inflammatory remarks since December, shortly after Jing was appointed Beijing’s top envoy in Manila.

Jing is reportedly a seasoned diplomat with extensive experience in the United States, having served as deputy director-general for North American affairs and as deputy chief of mission at China’s embassy in Washington, making him second in command.

The verbal spat followed the embassy’s filing of two diplomatic protests, urging the Philippines to stop “turning a blind eye” and “tolerating” Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the WPS Jay Tarriela, whom it accused of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Tarriela drew the ire of the Chinese embassy after he featured a caricature of Xi with the title “Why China remains to be bully?” during a forum at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde earlier in January. Photos of the event were later uploaded to his Facebook account.

Word war

The embassy argued that although Tarriela’s “malicious” social media posts against China have been a recurring issue, the particular post constituted a “blatant political provocation” that had “crossed the red line.”

The word war between the Philippines and China further escalated following the Senate’s adoption of a so-called “anti-China” resolution condemning Jing and other Beijing officials.

The resolution affirmed the Senate’s support for Filipino legislators and other key government officials, including Tarriela, who have been targeted for what it described as indecent remarks by the Chinese embassy over the maritime dispute in the WPS.

Diplomatic strain

Ji called senators supportive of the resolution “hypocrites” and “ignorant” of how diplomacy works, yet brazen enough, he said, to sabotage efforts to improve China–Philippines bilateral relations.

Senate President Tito Sotto, in response, issued a sharp rebuke to the Chinese embassy, asserting that such scathing remarks were a veiled attempt to “silence” the upper chamber.

He also called Ji hypocritical for demanding respect while continuing to disrespect members of Congress.

Ji, however, denied Sotto’s claim that the embassy was attempting to silence the Senate. Instead, he accused the chamber of being guilty of the offense by proposing that Jing be declared persona non grata, a move floated by Sotto himself.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned that China’s retaliatory moves could strain the longstanding diplomatic relations fostered by Manila and Beijing.

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

China has persistently asserted jurisdiction in the WPS, notwithstanding a 2016 arbitral ruling that deemed Beijing’s expansive claims over the entire South China Sea invalid and baseless.

In a Facebook post in January, the Chinese embassy strongly rejected the arbitral ruling as “illegal from the outset.”