China has accused the Philippines of setting up “numerous obstacles” to attending a meeting with defence ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and of violating “basic diplomatic protocols”.
The row, which follows years of tension over the two countries’ competing claims to the South China Sea, saw Beijing sending its defence attache to the meeting in Lapu-Lapu in the Philippines – the lowest-ranking Chinese representative at the event since it was first held in 2010.
“The Philippines has allowed certain politicians to act recklessly and abuse public power for personal agendas, erecting numerous obstacles to hinder China’s participation,” Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the defence ministry, said on Thursday.