China ‘cherry-picking facts’ to defend bullying, says PCG

MANILA, Philippines — China is “cherry-picking facts” to justify its bullying tactics in the West Philippine Sea, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman for WPS concerns

“By cherry-picking facts, the People’s Republic of China uses lies and fake news as smokescreen to divert attention away from their illegal action, provocative behavior and bullying tactics to assert their illegitimate dashed lines that even their own Communist Party is confused on whether it should be 9, 10, 11 or even 12,” Tarriela said on X.

In criticizing Beijing’s actions, the PCG official was lifting lines from an article in China’s Xinhua news agency, which accused the Philippines of resorting to “selective disclosure” and “cherry-picking facts.”

Xinhua also accused the US and Japan of influencing the public’s perception of the situation in favor of the Philippines.

The Xinhua article said that “in terms of media ethics, the core of the Philippine public relations tactic can also be defined as ‘selective disclosure’ or ‘cherry-picking facts.’ By cherry-picking facts, the Philippines uses professed victimhood as a smokescreen to divert attention away from its provocations and violations of Chinese sovereignty.”

It also accused the United States and Japan of having significantly aided the Philippines to influence the public’s perception of the situation in the WPS.

“By exploiting their extensive network of think tanks and influential media outlets, they wield substantial influence in shaping narratives that align with the Philippines’ agenda,” the Chinese news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the signing of a Reciprocal Access Agreement that will allow the Philippines and Japan to send military forces to each other’s territory for joint drills may take place this year, but not during the historic trilateral summit of Manila, Tokyo and Washington this week, according to Manila’s ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.

President Marcos, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden are slated to meet in Washington on April 12 to tackle regional security issues amid rising tensions in the South China Sea due to China’s growing