The local government unit of Kalayaan, Palawan passed a resolution on Tuesday declaring Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan as persona non grata or unwelcome person within its municipal jurisdiction.
Authored by Kalayaan Vice Mayor Maurice Phillip Alexis Albayda, the said resolution is “strongly condemning the recent actions of Jing Quan…for violations of diplomatic protocol and affronts to Philippine officials.”
It cited the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which mandates that foreign diplomats “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the host state.
The resolution stated that the ambassador and the Chinese Embassy engaged in “blatant interference” by demanding that the Philippine government hold Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela for his transparency efforts.
In August 2023, the Kalayaan municipal council also declared then-Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian as persona non grata after Beijing fired water cannons at PCG boats at the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
