Philippines calls for Chinese diplomats to be expelled for disinformation

MANILA May 12 (Reuters): The Philippine national security council on Friday called for Chinese diplomats to be expelled from the country for what it called a malicious disinformation campaign that had breached local laws and diplomatic protocols.

The National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano in a statement said the Chinese embassy's actions "should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned without serious penalty".

Ano was referring to a news report this week of an alleged leak of a call between a Chinese diplomat and a Filipino admiral discussing a dispute over the South China Sea, which carried a transcript that showed the admiral agreeing to concessions towards China.

China's embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ano's statement.

Reuters has not heard the reported phone conversation and could not verify the contents of the published transcript. The report said the conversation had taken place in January and the transcript was provided by a "ranking Chinese official", which it did not name.

The statement accused the Chinese embassy of "repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation", with the objective of sowing discord division and disunity.

"Those individuals in the Chinese embassy responsible for violating Philippine laws and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately," it said.

The two countries have been embroiled in a series of standoffs in disputed areas of the South China Sea as the Philippines, emboldened by support from the United States and other allies, steps up its activities in waters patrolled by China's coast guard.

China has accused the Philippines of trespassing and of treachery. The Philippines has scolded Beijing for what it says is a policy of aggression and dangerous manoeuvring inside Manila's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.