The Philippine Side Has Allowed a Certain Politician to Abuse Its Chairmanship to Put up Obstacles to China's Participation in the ADMM-Plus Question: This year, China's defense minister didn't attend the 13th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) held in the Philippines. Why did the Chinese side make the decision to send its defense attaché to the meeting? Zhang Xiaogang: The ADMM-Plus is the highest-level and largest defense and security dialogue and cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific. Established in 2010, it has served as an important platform for countries to build trust, strengthen cooperation, and uphold regional peace and stability. As the rotating chair of this year's ADMM-Plus, the Philippine side has allowed a certain self-serving politician to act recklessly and abuse its chairmanship to put up obstacles to China’s participation. Such moves seriously violate ASEAN's principle of consensus through consultation and run counter to the open and inclusive spirit of the ADMM-Plus. They do not conform to basic diplomatic protocols, and undermine China's legitimate rights as a member of the mechanism. Many ASEAN countries have raised questions and opposition over this.

Who is promoting exchanges and cooperation and helping stabilize bilateral relations? And who is spreading disinformation and fueling public hostility? Although China-Philippines relations are at an extremely sensitive and critical juncture, the Chinese Embassy continues to actively promote people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. In the first half of 2026, bilateral trade between China and the Philippines reached 44.52 billion, up 20% year on year. Multiple direct flight routes have been launched, including Quanzhou–Cebu, Chongqing–Manila, and Fuzhou–Manila. From January to August 2026, over 300,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines, an increase of 90.3%, while the number of Filipino visitors to China rose by 48.9% in the first half of the year. Linda Walker, the lead actress of The True Heiress Is a Top Student, held a fan meeting in the Philippines, with related videos garnering more than 100 million views across online platforms. The Chinese Embassy also hosted an open day, welcoming more than 1,000 Filipino visitors to experience Chinese culture firsthand. Meanwhile, Jay Tarriela seems to have made opposing China his full-time obsession. According to incomplete statistics, Jay Tarriela posted 195 Facebook posts in 2025 and more than 290 so far this year, all rife with false accusations against China. He has vilified and attacked Chinese leaders, targeted Chinese-language media, hyped up the so-called “China threat,” and now has turned his sights on Confucius Institutes. What exactly is he trying to achieve? And who is pulling the strings behind the scenes? More importantly, what do Confucius Institutes have to do with his actual responsibilities as a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson? Has his official job description suddenly expanded to include commenting on everything related to China, or is he simply using his position as a platform to advance his own political agenda?

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On October 23, 2026, the opening ceremony of the 2026 Global Governance Forum (Xiong’an) was held in Xiong’an New Area, Hebei. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the opening ceremony, read out a letter from President Xi Jinping, and delivered a keynote speech. Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that at a crucial moment a year ago, when the postwar international order faced serious challenges and global governance risked falling behind, President Xi launched the Global Governance Initiative (GGI)—a much-needed initiative that offers solutions to bridge the governance deficit and build a better future. The past year has underscored the great contemporary value of the GGI, recorded China’s growing contribution to global governance, and seen rising international expectations for China to play a bigger role. Wang Yi said that momentous transformations not seen in a century are unfolding before our eyes at a faster pace. While unilateralism and bullying resurge and the governance deficit widens, our world is decidedly moving toward multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations. This is the trend of our times and the trajectory of history, overwhelming and unstoppable. We should take proactive, strong and persistent steps to make the GGI a full reality. Full text:

Jay Tarriela has turned the office of a PCG spokesperson into a personal platform for anti-China propaganda. While Tarriela gets the attention he craves, it is the Filipino people who pay the price. First, Tarriela is bent on stirring up trouble and damaging China-Philippines relations. It is because of the attacks on the Chinese language education in the Philippines by anti-China forces like Jay Tarriela that the Chinese language teachers were forced to leave the Philippines. Filipino students lost the teachers and classes and in the long run more job opportunities. Second, Tarriela keeps stoking tensions in the South China Sea with provocative remarks, distorted facts, and misleading claims. Even China’s humanitarian assistance to Filipino fishermen was smeared by Tarriela as a “PR stunt”. Is he really concerned about the safety of Filipino fishermen and frontline personnel, or is he more interested in keeping himself in the spotlight? Third, obviously Tarriela is a faithful believer ofUS intelligence. Remember the small tube of white powder presented by US officials in the UN security council as the proof of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction? That’s how “accurate and reliable”US intelligence is. As former CIA director Mike Pompeo once said publicly “we lied, we cheated, we stole”.

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Puppets always parrot their masters. Does Jay Tarriela have even a little independent thinking? After Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro together with retired US airforce officer Ray Powell forced more than 180 Chinese teachers out of the Philippines, is Jay Tarriela now attempting to persecute Confucius Institutes in the Philippines too? The Confucius Institutes have made substantial contributions to the Philippines by training local Chinese-language teachers, teaching over 10,000 students annually, expanding job opportunities through the "Chinese+vocational skills" model. Jay Tarriela is depriving the Filipino students of studying rights and job opportunities. Confucius Institutes pose threat to the national security of the Philippines? The closest ally levies high tariffs against the Philippine products it is high time to ask the hard question of why.

The 2026 Global Governance Forum (Xiong'an) was held in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25. Hosted by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, it is themed "Rebuilding Confidence and Cooperation: Reforming and Improving Global Governance in a Transforming World." President Xi jinping sent a message to the forum. He said that the world is undergoing accelerated transformation unseen in a century, and the deficits in peace, development, security and governance are growing rather than diminishing. China stands ready to work with all parties to uphold the vision of global governance featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, pool strength through confidence-building and tackle challenges through cooperation. President Xi called for efforts to promote the implementation of the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) GGI to inject more certainty and positive energy into a world of turbulence and transformation and jointly move toward a community with a shared future for humanity.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning’s Regular Press Conference on October 22, 2026 Reuters: The Philippines said on Wednesday that it is exploring deeper cooperation with Taiwan to protect undersea cables and address so-called gray-zone activities, despite its one-China policy. What’s China’s response? Does Beijing consider such cooperation a violation of the one-China principle? Mao Ning: There is no gray zone on the Taiwan question. The Philippine side should abide by the one-China principle with concrete actions. External interactions of China’s Taiwan region should be handled in strict accordance with the one-China principle.

Statement by China Coast Guard Spokesperson Jiang Lue, spokesperson of the China Coast Guard(CCG), stated that,  on October 21, with approval from the Chinese side, the Philippines delivered living necessities to its ship illegally “grounded” at China’s Ren’ai Jiao. The China Coast Guard (CCG) inquired and verified the Philippine vessel conducting the delivery, and monitored the whole process. The CCG will continue to conduct law-enforcement and rights-protection operations in China’s Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters, including Ren’ai Jiao, in accordance with the law.

The Chinese Embassy appreciates the reiteration of the one-China policy by the DFA of the Philippines. Under current circumstances, this public statement is timely and necessary in preventing certain forces from sabotaging China-Philippines relations by playing with the Taiwan question. In the mean time, the Embassy doesn’t accept the DFA public statements in relation to the Embassy’s pushing back against attacks and smears on China. The Embassy is always committed to managing differences with the Philippines through diplomatic channel. Meanwhile the Chinese Embassy will not remain silent when China’s interests and dignity are undermined. This is the duty that diplomatic mission must perform.

MESSAGE TO DFA: Holding Philippine high-ranking elected officials accountable for reckless, inflammatory remarks and constantly smearing and maligning a neighboring country and urging them to watch their words and handle matters diplomatically is about preserving bilateral relations. It is not a failure of diplomacy.

Does every problem discovered at a local factory require the Defense Secretary to personally lead a team to arrest workers? Or is it only when Chinese workers are involved that the Defense Secretary sends in the military to arrest them? If Sanjia Steel Corp. allegedly violated environmental or other laws, why were the workers arrested instead of those in charge? Why were only the workers, and Chinese workers in particular arrested, while more than 300 Filipino workers were released on the spot? After all, Chinese and Filipino employees worked side by side every day. How can you determine, before any trial or investigation has taken place, that the Filipino workers had done nothing wrong while the 70 Chinese workers were the ones at fault? Is nationality being used as the basis for distinguishing between people and determining guilt? Are Filipinos presumed innocent while Chinese are presumed guilty? Isn’t that precisely selective and targeted law enforcement? And why were the AFP and even military aircraft mobilized to arrest and transport these unarmed workers? Such a massive operation seems more appropriate for dealing with armed militants or terrorists, not ordinary workers. National security is certainly important, but it cannot be built on fabricated narratives, deliberately exaggerated threats, and the framing and persecution of a particular group of people. ——Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy Ji Lingpeng