MANILA, Aug 7 (Reuters) – The Philippine foreign ministry said it did not condone threats of violence against foreign officials after five caskets containing anti-China messages were found abandoned in Manila in the early hours of Friday morning.
China filed a solemn representation to the Philippine government in protest against the incident, with its embassy in Manila describing the caskets as a “political provocation” and urging Philippine authorities to investigate and bring those responsible to justice.
Philippine police discovered five abandoned caskets across the Philippine capital before dawn on Friday, including one left outside the Chinese embassy, but have yet to identify the people responsible. The caskets contained anti-China messages, with one bearing photos of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan and the word “greedy”.
“Such actions do not reflect the Philippine government’s approach to conducting its foreign relations, nor do they represent how Filipinos express criticism or dissatisfaction, even on sensitive political matters,” the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said in a statement that the caskets sought to sow hostility between Filipinos and Chinese but would not undermine stable ties between the two countries. The incident came amid rising tensions between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea, where the two countries have repeatedly clashed over disputed maritime features.
(Reporting by Nestor Corrales and Karen Lema; Editing by David Stanway)
