Philippines rebukes China embassy over ‘coercive’ warning of job losses

Diplomatic dispute escalates as Beijing and Manila present competing narratives in the contested China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea.Published On 17 Feb 2026The Philippines has criticised China’s embassy in Manila, after the diplomatic mission warned that deteriorating bilateral relations between the two countries could cost millions of jobs.The Department of Foreign Affairs said late on Monday it took “strong exception” to the Chinese embassy’s tone, accusing Beijing’s diplomats of implying that economic cooperation could be weaponised as leverage.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Philippines says fishermen hurt, boat damaged in China coastguard skirmishlist 2 of 3North Korea fires suspected ballistic missiles into sea, S Korea, Japan saylist 3 of 3Japan, Philippines sign new defence pacts amid surging China tensionsend of list“This framing risks being perceived as coercive and undermines constructive bilateral dialogue,” the department said in a statement.The Philippines and China have ⁠had repeated maritime confrontations in the contested China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea, and the latest dispute has its roots in a presentation by Commodore Jay Tarriela, a senior Philippine Coast Guard official, at an academic forum, in which he displayed a caricature of Chinese President Xi Jinping.Beijing’s embassy in Manila demanded that Tarriela be held “accountable” for what it called “smears and slanders” – a reaction that itself provoked a sharp rebuke from the Philippine Senate.Lawmakers passed a resolution condemning the embassy’s intervention as “improper”, declaring that Commodore Tarriela had been acting within his duties. Some senators went further, calling for the expulsion of Chinese embassy officials or the recall of Ambassador Jing Quan.The Chinese embassy’s spokesman Ji Lingpeng subsequently issued a stark warning, saying that “any serious damage to diplomatic relations, including downgrading of those relations, would cost millions of jobs.”