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Former Philippine diplomat Albert Del Rosario, who criticised China, back in Manila after Hong Kong deportation
- The former foreign affairs secretary is a noted critic of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his detention came one day after he said Beijing was ‘not to be trusted’
- Last month his fellow Xi critic Conchita Carpio Morales encountered a similarly frosty reception
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The former foreign affairs secretary of the Philippines, Albert del Rosario, arrived in Manila late Friday afternoon after he was barred from entering Hong Kong.
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Del Rosario, who arrived in the city on a 7.40am Cathay Pacific flight, one day after saying China was “not to be trusted” over the sinking of a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, was held and questioned by immigration officers at the airport before being deported.
The former diplomat told reporters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport that a complaint he and ex-ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales filed at the International Criminal Court against Chinese President Xi Jinping was the reason why he was held at the airport.
“It’s harassment. They have no right to hold me since I am travelling on diplomatic passport,” he told reporters, citing violation of the Vienna Convention. It’s an international treaty that specifies the privileges of diplomats to carry out their work without fear of coercion by a host country.
Del Rosario – who was supposed to attend board and shareholder meetings of First Pacific – is a noted critic of Xi.
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