The Philippines’ top diplomat yesterday unambiguously told Beijing where to go, as the government said Chinese vessels were still illegally lingering in the disputed South China Sea.
“China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see... O... GET THE FUCK OUT,” Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin wrote on Twitter.
The latest spat between Manila and Beijing over the resource-rich waters — which China claims almost entirely — flared up in March after hundreds of Chinese boats were spotted inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Photo: EPA-EFE
China has refused repeated calls from the Philippines to withdraw the boats, and tensions have intensified as Manila steps up maritime patrols in the area.
Locsin frequently uses strong language on Twitter and defended his latest outburst by saying: “Usual suave diplomatic speak gets nothing done.”
He also likened China to “an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend.”
The order came as the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs accused China’s coast guard of “belligerent actions” against Philippine boats involved in maritime drills near the contested Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), which is also claimed by Taiwan.
China-controlled Scarborough is one of the region’s richest fishing grounds and a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing, which have rival claims.
The department said it has lodged a diplomatic protest over the Chinese vessels’ actions toward the Southeast Asian country’s coast guard during patrols and training exercises near the reef last month.
The department said the presence of the Chinese boats was a “blatant infringement of Philippine sovereignty.”
Ethiopia’s Afar region on Friday called on civilians to take up arms against rebels from neighboring Tigray, signaling a potential escalation in fighting that has already displaced tens of thousands this week. “Every Afar should protect their land with any means available, whether by guns, sticks or stones,” regional President Awol Arba said in an interview aired by regional state media. “No weapons can make us kneel down. We will win this war with our strong determination.” Tigrayan rebels launched operations in Afar last weekend, saying they were targeting pro-government troops massing along the two regions’ shared border. A government official said on
The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has fully vaccinated 90 percent of its eligible adult population within just seven days, the Bhutanese Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. The tiny country, wedged between India and China and home to nearly 800,000 people, began giving out second doses on Tuesday last week in a mass drive that has been hailed by the UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) as “arguably the fastest vaccination campaign to be executed during a pandemic.” Bhutan grabbed headlines in April when its government said it had inoculated about the same percentage of eligible adults with the first dose
‘LIBERATE HONG KONG’: The prosecution argued that the slogan was in the tradition of rallying cries for secession dating back to the Qin and Qing dynasties Three Hong Kong judges are to rule tomorrow whether the protest slogan: “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times” is a call for secession when they deliver a verdict on charges against a man arrested at a demonstration last year. The landmark ruling could have long-term implications for how a Beijing-imposed National Security Law against secession, terrorism, subversion and collusion with foreign forces reshapes the territory’s common law traditions, some legal scholars say. Democracy advocates say that a ruling to outlaw the slogan would tighten limits on free speech. The slogan was last year chanted during democracy protests, posted online, scrawled on walls,
For almost 500 years, the arch that connects the largest Gothic cathedral in the world with its Renaissance sacristy has offered visitors a sumptuous, if little glimpsed — and even less studied — vision of religious bounty. The 68 beautifully carved plates of food that adorn the archway in Seville’s cathedral offer rather more than bread and wine. There are pigs’ trotters and wild strawberries, aubergines, clams and oysters. There are peaches, radishes, a skinned hare with a knife by its side, a squirrel served on a bed of hazelnuts and a plate of lemons across which a small snake slithers. There
RSS