Former Philippine secretary of foreign affairs Teodoro Locsin has been appointed the president’s special envoy to Beijing, the government said yesterday, despite the outspoken diplomat’s profanity-laced criticism of China.
Locsin, currently the ambassador to Britain and Ireland, often used strong language while serving as foreign secretary under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, and once swore at China online over the presence of its vessels in the disputed South China Sea.
“China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see... O... GET THE FUCK OUT,” Locsin posted on Twitter in May 2021.
Photo: AFP
Locsin also likened China to “an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend.”
His expletive-laden demand prompted a rebuke from Beijing and Locsin later apologized to his Chinese counterpart.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on Locsin’s surprise appointment, which was announced by the Presidential Communications Office on Facebook.
It said in a brief statement that Locsin had been appointed “Special Envoy of the President to the People’s Republic of China for Special Concerns.”
No other details were provided.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil told reporters that Locsin would serve in a “concurrent capacity,” suggesting he would remain as ambassador.
Locsin is a prolific poster on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on topics ranging from Holocaust victims to his late pet cat, but has not commented publicly on his appointment.
The decision comes at a delicate time for relations between the Philippines and China, which are embroiled in another diplomatic spat over the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost all of the waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored a 2016 international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
Tensions flared this month when the Philippines accused China Coast Guard vessels of blocking and firing water cannons at boats on a resupply mission.
Manila summoned Beijing’s envoy over the incident, which resulted in one of the boats carrying supplies failing to reach a Philippine Navy vessel grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙), which Taiwan also claims.
The handful of Filipino marines stationed on the crumbling ship to assert the Philippines’ territorial claims depend upon resupply missions to survive their remote posting.
Beijing has defended its actions as “professional,” and accused Manila of “illegal delivery of construction materials” to the grounded ship.
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