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dpa
Manila
The Philippines’ top diplomat on Monday used less-than-diplomatic language to tell China to get out of the country’s waters, after months of repeated demands for hundreds of Chinese ships to leave disputed areas in the exclusive economic zone.
“Get the fuck out,” wrote Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin on Twitter, after the Philippines filed a new diplomatic protest against China for “belligerent” actions by Chinese coast guard ships against their Philippine counterparts near Scarborough Shoal last week.
“China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see... O...GET THE FUCK OUT,” he said in a tweet.
“What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We’re trying. You. You’re like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend.”
The Philippine coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources were conducting training exercises near Scarborough Shoal last week when Chinese ships did “shadowing, blocking, dangerous manoeuvre and radio challenges.”
The exercises were conducted within Philippine waters that are “integral parts” of the country, and “China has no law enforcement rights in these areas,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Scarborough Shoal, also known to the Chinese as Huangyan Dao or Democracy Reef, is 230 kilometres from the Philippines’ north-western coast. It is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The shoal was the site of a stand-off between Philippine and Chinese government ships in April 2012, which prompted Manila to file a case against Beijing before an international tribunal that ruled in favour of the Philippines in 2016.
The tribunal ruled that Beijing has no legal or historic basis to its claim to the entire South China Sea.
Beijing has rejected the ruling.
Manila
The Philippines’ top diplomat on Monday used less-than-diplomatic language to tell China to get out of the country’s waters, after months of repeated demands for hundreds of Chinese ships to leave disputed areas in the exclusive economic zone.
“Get the fuck out,” wrote Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin on Twitter, after the Philippines filed a new diplomatic protest against China for “belligerent” actions by Chinese coast guard ships against their Philippine counterparts near Scarborough Shoal last week.
“China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see... O...GET THE FUCK OUT,” he said in a tweet.
“What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We’re trying. You. You’re like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend.”
The Philippine coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources were conducting training exercises near Scarborough Shoal last week when Chinese ships did “shadowing, blocking, dangerous manoeuvre and radio challenges.”
The exercises were conducted within Philippine waters that are “integral parts” of the country, and “China has no law enforcement rights in these areas,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Scarborough Shoal, also known to the Chinese as Huangyan Dao or Democracy Reef, is 230 kilometres from the Philippines’ north-western coast. It is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The shoal was the site of a stand-off between Philippine and Chinese government ships in April 2012, which prompted Manila to file a case against Beijing before an international tribunal that ruled in favour of the Philippines in 2016.
The tribunal ruled that Beijing has no legal or historic basis to its claim to the entire South China Sea.
Beijing has rejected the ruling.
