China tells Philippines: Stop serving as other countries’ mouthpiece
MANILA, Philippines — China has issued a warning to the Philippines ahead of United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's scheduled visit to Manila this week, urging the Philippine government to "stop serving as other countries' mouthpiece" and to avoid being used as "chess pieces" in regional power plays.
The familiar rebuke was delivered by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun at a press conference on Tuesday, March 25.
The high-level visit by Hegseth to Manila on Friday (March 28) is the first trip by a top American official under US President Donald Trump, who assumed office in January. During Hegseth's two-day visit, he is expected to meet Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
"Any defense or security cooperation between the Philippines and other countries should not target any third party or harm their interest, still less threaten regional peace or escalate tensions in the region," Guo said.
Using sharp metaphorical language, the Chinese official warned: "Facts have repeatedly proven that nothing good could come out of opening the door to a predator. Those who willingly serve as chess pieces will be deserted in the end."
Guo also delivered what appeared to be a direct message to Philippine officials, saying: "Our message to some in the Philippines: stop serving as other countries' mouthpiece and no more stunt for personal political agenda."
This is not the first time China has accused the Philippines of acting at the behest of foreign powers.
On March 7, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi characterized maritime confrontations as a "shadow play" orchestrated by external powers and said Philippine actions in the South China Sea follow a script written by other countries.
Wang's comments specifically targeted Manila's transparency initiative, which involve media and government documentation of encounters between Philippine vessels and Chinese maritime forces.
In this March 7 statement, Wang also used chess metaphors and indicated the Philippines were "chess pieces" that will eventually be "discarded."
US-Philippines defense ties
The Philippines is the US' longest treaty ally in the region. Both countries share a mutual defense treaty that compels them to defend the other during armed attacks.
Tensions between Manila and Beijing have been simmering due to escalating and repeated confrontations in the West Philippine Sea in the last two years — the part of the South China Sea that falls within the Philippines' 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that found its "nine dash line" had no legal basis.
The US has consistently expressed concern over Chinese vessels' incursions and dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels in the strategic waterways.
But beyond incidents of maritime aggression, Beijing has also seethed at the continued presence of a US-made Typhon missile system in the Philippines that, when fired from northern Luzon, can reach mainland China.
Beijing has repeatedly urged Manila to remove the Typhon Mid-Range Capability missile system. But Marcos himself, in an interview in January, rebuked Beijing for its demands, and dared it to cease its aggressive and coercive behavior in the West Philippine Sea first.
Hegseth and Teodoro, in their first call in February, discussed the importance of "reestablishing deterrence in the South China Sea, including by working with allies and partners."
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