China calls for 'basic etiquette' after Philippine outburst

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. gestures during a senate hearing in Manila, Philippines. Locsin apologized Tuesday, May 4,2021, after tweeting an obscene phrase demanding China get out of Philippine-claimed territory in the South China Sea in an outburst that annoyed the Philippine president. - AP

BEIJING, May 4 (Reuters): China urged the Philippines on Tuesday to observe "basic etiquette" and eschew megaphone diplomacy after the South-East Asian nation's foreign minister used an expletive-laced Twitter message to demand that China's vessels leave disputed waters.

The comments by Teodoro Locsin, known for occasional blunt remarks, follow Manila's protests over what it calls the illegal presence of hundreds of Chinese boats inside the Philippines' 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).