Philippines Rejects Beijing’s Claim of Journalists Smearing China’s Coast Guard

The Philippines says embedded journalists are only delivering factual stories about the current situation in the disputed South China Sea.

A Chinese coast guard ship blocks a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources' (BFAR) ship as it nears the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea, on Sept. 22, 2023. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images

The Philippines embedded journalists on a ship resupply mission at the Scarborough Shoal to “truthfully report” on the “illegal presence” of Chinese coast guard ships there, a senior Philippine official said on Feb. 25.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) spokesman, made the remarks after Chinese state-owned media accused journalists on board a Philippine fishing vessel of trying to “smear and hype” the Chinese coast guard’s operation near the disputed shoal on Feb. 22.