China's embassy condemns PH envoy's remarks on South China Sea

BEIJING - China's embassy in the Philippines on Sunday said it "strongly" condemns the Philippine ambassador to Washington's recent China-related remarks, saying they "disregarded basic facts."

The remarks "wantonly hyped up the South China Sea issue and made speculations and malicious smears against China," the embassy said in a statement.

Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Wednesday that while the United States sees both the South China Sea issue and a potential Taiwan conflict as "serious concerns", he believed the "real flashpoint is the West Philippine Sea" given "all of these skirmishes happening there."

Romualdez, while speaking before the Consular Corps of the Philippines, said heightened tensions between China and Taiwan was a key concern but added that a Chinese takeover was a calculated risk.

Romualdez said Chinese President Xi Jinping was "not going to make a move unless he is absolutely sure that he can militarily take over Taiwan."

“Deterrence is the only way to stop them from going into that kind of situation. So we’re hoping that every morning when President Xi wakes up he’s going to say, 'Today’s not the day'," Romualdez said.

"The aggression that we are now facing is very real,” the Philippine ambassador added without naming China. “Never in our lifetime even during World War II did we face such a challenge because this country will not let up on their claim in many of our territorial waters.”

Romualdez said the unpredictable situation in the waters is keeping him awake at night as it does President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and other Philippine officials.

“All of these skirmishes that are happening there, there can be one major accident and either one of our countries the US or the Philippines can invoke the MDT and when we do, a commitment made by the US or the commitment we made will happen and then all hell breaks loose," Romualdez said.

He emphasized that diplomacy was still the best option to pursue rather than conflict.

“That’s what we are working hard on. We want to avoid having to find a situation where we will have to call each other saying, 'We want to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty. You have to defend us because the Chinese are already on our shores,” Romualdez said.

“We hope it will never happen."

Meanwhile, reacting to Romualdez, the Chinese embassy said: "Inviting wolves into the house and engaging in small circles will not only not help resolve the differences in the South China Sea, but on the contrary will complicate the regional situation, and undermine regional peace and stability."

It urged Romualdez to stop spreading the "China threat theory" and "paranoia of persecution", and to refrain from "acting as a spokesperson for other countries".

The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tensions have flashed over maritime disputes in the South China Sea, with Beijing and Manila trading sharp accusations over a slew of run-ins.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis. — Reuters