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Pia Lee-Brago - The Philippine Star
February 11, 2026 | 12:00am
Supporters of China's Premier Li Qiang wave Chinese national flags outside an event held at the Auckland Museum in Auckland on June 14, 2024.
AFP / Brett Phibbs
MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese embassy rejected yesterday the resolution approved by the Senate condemning embassy officials for their statements against Philippine officials speaking out on West Philippine Sea (WPS) issues and defending the country’s sovereignty.
In a statement, Chinese embassy spokesman Ji Lingpeng called the Senate resolution a “political stunt” and accused the legislators of repeatedly resorting to “threats” and “intimidation” against Chinese diplomats.
He warned the legislators that there is a price to pay for their “hypocrisy, ignorance and recklessness.”
The embassy also announced its decision to declare as persona non grata council members of the Kalayaan municipality on the basis of “principle of reciprocity.” The municipal council earlier declared embassy officials persona non grata.
Reacting to the embassy statement, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said it was the Chinese diplomats who were disrespectful and needed rebuke.
“Respect begets respect,” Sotto said.
Ji described the Senate resolution as a form of intimidation.
“We firmly reject and strongly condemn the said anti-China resolution. Some Philippine legislators repeatedly resort to threats and intimidation against Chinese diplomats,” Ji said.
“They claim they represent public opinion but actually twist facts and mislead the public. The said Senate resolution is nothing but a political stunt,” he added.
The Senate – without any objection – adopted on Monday Senate Resolution 256, authored by Sen. Francis Pangilinan, asserting national sovereignty and condemning the embassy officials’ breach of diplomatic protocol.
“What’s truly outrageous and hard to understand is that they would go so far as to condone and support a Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson maliciously smearing and attacking the leader of another country,” Ji said.
The lawmakers, Ji said, “know little about how diplomacy works.”
“Yet they dare to undermine the efforts to improve China-Philippines relations by stirring up hatred and confrontation. What they’ve done is for their own political interest. Such behavior only disgraces themselves. However, the price of their hypocrisy, ignorance and recklessness is paid by the ordinary people,” he said.
The diplomat pointed out there are two ways to deal with the ongoing noise. “One is to say a firm, loud and clear ‘no,’ without hesitation, to condemn it and reject it outright. The other is to keep advancing China-Philippines cooperation and exchanges, strengthen understanding and mutual trust and make those who create the noise irrelevant and unwelcome. We choose both,” Ji said.
“No matter how many anti-China resolutions these people introduce, whether it’s 10 or even 100, it will not in the slightest weaken the Chinese embassy’s resolve to fight the malicious moves against China to the very end. Not a chance,” Ji said.
Sotto: We won’t be silenced
Sotto, meanwhile, said the chamber would never be silenced by Beijing’s diplomats.
“It seems like the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in the Philippines wanted to silence this august chamber by calling us hypocrites and ignorant by issuing our stand through this resolution,” Sotto told reporters.
“He is claiming that we are intimidating Chinese diplomats yet he continues to speak disrespectfully against us and calling the Senate resolution a mere political stunt. I can say the same thing to him – that he knows little about how diplomacy works,” Sotto said.
