MANILA, Philippines — China summoned Philippine ambassador to China Jaime Florcruz on Thursday, January 22, over statements made by Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.

It’s the latest in a new and very public chapter of diplomatic tensions between the two Asian countries.

“It must be stressed that the Philippine side has long turned a blind eye to its Coast Guard ‘spokesperson’ making inflammatory, confrontational, misleading and baseless remarks against China on maritime issues. China does not accept that. 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,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun in a January 21 briefing.

Since the waning days of 2025, the Chinese embassy in the Philippines has been posting, almost daily, lengthy and strong-worded statements criticizing or reacting to statements made by Philippine officials and agencies.

So far, it has publicly rebuked not only Tarriela but also senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan, representatives Leila de Lima and Chel Diokno, Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, and the National Maritime Council.

But the embassy, mainly through its spokesperson Gray Wei, has tussled the most with Tarriela, who is also among the most vocal in the Philippine government in criticizing Beijing over its actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Tarriela is among the originators of the Philippines’ “transparency initiative,” which is partly a name-and-shame campaign meant to expose China’s harassment in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as well as in South China Sea features, which Manila claims.

Wei and the embassy most recently hit Tarriela for a slide in a presentation the latter made at a Philippine university. The slide, a photo of which Tarriela himself shared on social media, includes digitally manipulated photos of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The slide’s title referenced China’s actions as a “bully.”

Tarriela, in a statement to media on January 23, said “threatening a public servant for telling the truth will not intimidate us.”

“It only proves that transparency is working — and that China fears an informed world more than it fears international law,” said Tarriela.

The PCG spokesperson added that if Beijing wants to reverse negative impacts, it should “respect” the 2016 Arbitral Award, leave the features they have reclaimed and occupied in the West Philippine Sea, and stop harassing Filipino fisherfolk.

“Transparency in the WPS is not provocation rather it is merely exposing the bully aggressor and the real victim,” he said.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have almost always been high, especially over territorial and entitlement disputes in the South China Sea, particularly in an area the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea. The West Philippine Sea covers the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as well as features that the Philippines claims as its territory.

China, in contrast, claims almost all of the South China Sea, a critical sealane for trade.

The 2016 Arbitral Award refers to a decision by an arbitral tribunal that deemed China’s 9-dash line — the supposed basis of its territorial claims in the South China Sea — as invalid. The tribunal also chastised China for its reclamation activities, as well as its harassment of Filipino vessels. Beijing does not recognize the award.

While the award affirmed the Philippines’ EEZ or where it has sovereign rights, it did not decide on sovereignty because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not decide on territorial disputes. Beijing has controlled features such as Scarborough Shoal, which has its own territorial waters, since 2012.

Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines has turned more forceful in trying to uphold its sovereign rights and sovereignty claims in the West Philippine Sea.

Tensions have sometimes led to diplomatic tussles and incidents out at sea. Philippine ships have been damaged as a result of Chinese vessels’ “dangerous maneuvers.”

Most recently, however, two Chinese ships — one from its coast guard and another from its navy — collided with each other close to Scarborough Shoal as they both tried to chase down a PCG ship. Beijing later blamed Manila — even as it did not admit to the collision — for the incident. – Rappler.com