The Philippines will never be a province of China, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said on Tuesday.

Zhao made the statement as he dismissed as “vicious attack” against relations between the Philippines and China the unauthorized display of red banners tagging Manila as Beijing’s province.

FUNDED BY CHINA. President Rodrigo Duterte leads the groundbreaking rites of two China-funded bridges in Manila on Tuesday. PHOTO BY ANDREA DE LA CRUZ.

“It [the Philippines] has never been [a] part of China... Not now, not ever,” Zhao told reporters in an interview in Manila.

“It’s a kind of vicious attack, not only on the relations between the two countries, but also on the independent foreign policy pursued by President [Rodrigo] Duterte and his administration,” he said.

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Red banners with the phrase, “Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China” were spotted at footbridges along Quezon Avenue, Philcoa, and Welcome Rotonda, all in Quezon City; and Pasay City, among other locations.

The presence of the tarpaulins coincided with the second anniversary of the Philippines’victory over China in a case that Manila filed before The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.

China has refused to acknowledge the landmark ruling and continues to claim almost the entire South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).

Duterte has been criticized for his soft stance on the dispute with China, but has promised to bring up the arbitral ruling with Beijing within his term.

He previously joked that he wanted the Philippines to be a province of China.

“Gusto ninyo gawain na lang ninyo kaming province, Fujian pati Philippine province of China, eh ‘di wala tayong problema [If you want you can make us your province. Fujian and the Philippine province of China, and we would have no problem],” Duterte told Filipino-Chinese businessmen in a speech in February.

Malacañang has accused the “enemies of the government” as the ones behind the banners.

When asked if the banners were offensive to the Chinese government, Zhao said, “I don’t think it is offensive, but it is bad.”

The Chinese Ambassador was in Intramuros, Manila, to attend the groundbreaking rites for the Binondo-Intramuros bridge, a project funded by China.

Meanwhile, Zhao dismissed claims that the Philippines may fall into a debt trap by accepting Chinese loans to finance massive infrastructure projects of the Duterte administration.

“Actually there has never been a debt trap. It’s all based on mutual agreement,” he said.

Zhao clarified that the projects, particularly the two bridges in Manila, financed by the Chinese grants will be built for “free.”

“You’re going to use some Chinese soft loans to finance some infrastructure projects. That is simply the decision by your government to use the soft loans and the infrastructure projects will be undertaken by a Chinese company through limited bidding process,” he said.

“There is no mention or no avenue for ownership, your government will own all those projects. So there will be no question of putting yourself in debt. I think your economic team is smart enough,” Zhao added.