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PAG-ASA. An aerial view shows the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, locally known as Pag-asa, in the contested Spratly Islands, South China Sea, March 9, 2023.

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese embassy in the Philippines said Tuesday, February 10, that it has banned the councilors of the Philippines? most remote and least-populated town from entering China after they declared two of Beijing?s envoys to the Philippines persona non grata.

?Based on the principle of reciprocity, the individuals involved in fabricating the said resolutions are not welcome to enter China (including Hong Kong and Macao),? said the embassy in a statement.

The municipality of Kalayaan, a local government unit that has jurisdiction over the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the West Philippine Sea, has declared the last two ambassadors of Beijing to Manila persona non grata — Huang Xilian in 2023 and current ambassador Jing Quan in 2026.

Persona non grata means a person is not welcome to a specific town, city, or province. It?s largely a symbolic, albeit political gesture — especially in Kalayaan?s case. The KIG, after all, is reachable only by plane or ship, typically of the Philippine government?s.

China?s retaliation is only the latest in what?s been a weeks-long, tense exchanges between the Chinese embassy and spokesperson, agencies, and even elected Philippine officials through statements and social media posts.

Kalayaan is at the literal frontlines of the Philippines? efforts to assert both its entitlements and claims in the West Philippine Sea, a part of the South China Sea that includes its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and features which it claims. Several features in the KIG lie beyond the EEZ, including Pag-asa Island, where the largest permanent civilian population in the South China Sea live.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 Arbitral Award that deemed that claim invalid. – Rappler.com

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