Lawmaker seeks Chinese envoy’s expulsion over embassy’s ‘stop bluffing’ taunt

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker called for the expulsion of Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan after the Chinese Embassy in Manila dared Philippine officials pushing to declare him persona non grata to “STOP BLUFFING.”

Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña criticized the embassy’s remark, calling the Chinese envoy an arrogant and unwelcome visitor.

“NAPAKAYABANG NA BWISITA,” Cendaña said in a post on X on Saturday, October 17.

“Hanggang kailan ba natin ito titiisin? Dapat nang paalisin itong Chinese ambassador,” he added.

(What an arrogant, obnoxious visitor. How long are we going to put up with this? This Chinese ambassador should be sent home.)

The embassy issued the statement after some senators and House representatives proposed declaring Jing persona non grata, a diplomatic measure that would designate him as unwelcome in the Philippines and call for his departure.

“Some senators and house representatives are talking about declaring the Chinese ambassador persona non grata. Is this threat or coercion? But anyway, just do it. Otherwise, STOP BLUFFING,” the embassy said in a Facebook post.

Marcos wants to discuss envoy’s remarks

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also said he wanted to discuss Jing’s remarks with the ambassador, saying they sounded like a threat and that he wanted to understand what the envoy meant.

“It sounds very much to me like a threat, and it is not a very diplomatic statement to be made. So we perhaps would like to understand what exactly it is that he means,” Marcos told reporters on Friday.

“I think that deserves a discussion between the ambassador and myself,” he said when asked if he would summon Jing.

China envoy’s remarks draw backlash

The calls to expel Jing came after he drew criticism for saying China could easily win a conflict with the Philippines if it chose to use force, although he said Beijing would not resort to it.

“If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not choose force, and we love peace,” Jing told reporters in Manila on Thursday after delivering a speech at a school.

Jing made the remarks a day after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro called China a regional “troublemaker.” The ambassador dismissed the characterization as “nonsense” and accused Manila of harassing Chinese workers and teachers, without citing specific examples.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Jing’s remarks appeared to convey a “thinly veiled threat” of the use of force and were “hardly helpful” given the complicated relations between Manila and Beijing.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela also called the statement a “direct threat,” citing encounters between Filipino and Chinese personnel in disputed waters.

Hontiveros seeks apology, backs possible expulsion

Sen. Risa Hontiveros also called for accountability over Jing’s remarks, describing them as “gray zone aggression in diplomatic form” intended to intimidate and coerce the Philippines without escalating to open conflict.

“Let it be clear to China that no threat will make us surrender what is rightfully ours,” Hontiveros said in a Facebook statement.

The senator said the Philippines had defended its rights through legal and diplomatic means.

“An ambassador who threatens his host country has crossed a line. Summoning him is not enough,” she said.

Hontiveros urged the government to demand a formal retraction and apology from Beijing, adding that Jing should be declared persona non grata if China refuses.

She also called on the government to raise the matter before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations General Assembly.

“When one nation is threatened, every member-state that values international law is threatened too,” Hontiveros said.

“China must be held accountable for these words, as she must be for her actions in our waters,” she added.

China claims most of the South China Sea, including waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. A 2016 arbitral ruling invalidated the legal basis of Beijing’s expansive maritime claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.