The Philippines has recalled its ambassador to Canada, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin said yesterday, in an escalation of a festering diplomatic row over tonnes of trash shipped to the Southeast Asian nation.
Ties have been deteriorating since a Canadian company sent about 100 shipping containers that included rotting rubbish wrongly labeled as recyclables to Philippine ports in 2013 and 2014.
Wednesday was the deadline set by Manila for Canada to take the rotting trash back, after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte berated Ottawa over the issue last month.
Canada has since said that it is arranging for the containers’ return, but has not said when exactly that might happen.
Locsin said that letters recalling the ambassador and consuls to Canada have been sent and the diplomats would be in Manila “in a day or so.”
“Canada missed the May 15 deadline, and we shall maintain a diminished diplomatic presence in Canada until its garbage is ship-bound there,” Locsin wrote on Twitter.
Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The garbage has strained ties between the two nations, which were already tested after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau questioned Duterte’s deadly drug crackdown.
Duterte bristles at any international criticism of his signature policy, which has seen police kill thousands of alleged addicts and pushers since 2016.
Last year, Duterte canceled the Philippine military’s US$235 million contract to buy 16 military helicopters from a Canada-based manufacturer, after Ottawa put the deal under review because of the president’s human rights record.
During a speech last month, Duterte threatened to unilaterally ship the garbage back to Canada, saying: “Let’s fight Canada. I will declare war against them.”
Duterte frequently uses coarse language and hyperbole in speeches about opponents.
Following the comments, Canada offered to repatriate the waste and the Philippines said that Ottawa would shoulder the expense of disposal.
The Philippine Bureau of Customs last week said that the nation was ready to send back the waste, but Canada needed several more weeks to prepare documentation.
About 69 shipping containers of trash remain after 34 others have already been disposed of in the Philippines, the Philippine Department of Finance said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was