马尼拉：中国驻马尼拉大使表示，北京可以“轻松获胜”在与菲律宾的冲突中，尽管它永远不会选择使用武力。菲律宾群岛国家表示，这些言论可能被解读为“赤裸裸的威胁”。
MANILA: China's ambassador to Manila has said Beijing could "easily win" a conflict with the Philippines, though it would never choose force, comments the archipelago nation said could be read as a "thinly veiled threat".
尽管国际裁定认为北京的主张没有法律依据，但北京仍声称拥有南海大部分海域。近年来，菲律宾和中国船只在该地区多次发生对峙，其中一些导致碰撞和人员受伤。
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and Philippine and Chinese ships have engaged in repeated confrontations in recent years, some leading to collisions and injuries.
大使的言论是在菲律宾国防部长吉尔伯托·特奥多罗将北京称为地区“制造麻烦者”的一天后发表的。
The ambassador's remarks came a day after Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro labelled Beijing a regional "troublemaker".
“我们应该感到幸运，在这个地区拥有像中国这样的邻居，”中国大使景泉在周四（10月15日）对马尼拉当地记者表示。
"We should feel fortunate enough that you have a neighbour like China in this region," Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan told local reporters in Manila on Thursday (Oct 15).
“如果我们想使用武力，我们可能会轻松获胜。但不，我们不会选择武力，我们热爱和平，”他在马尼拉一所学校发表演讲后说道。
"If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not choose force, and we love peace," he said after giving a speech at a school in Manila.
景泉还表示，“制造麻烦者”的标签是“胡说八道”，并指责马尼拉骚扰中国工人和教师，但未提供具体例子。
Jing added that the troublemaker label was "nonsense", while accusing Manila of harassing Chinese workers and teachers, without offering specific examples.
菲律宾外交部在当天晚些时候作出回应， lamented 这些言论在两国关系复杂的情况下“几乎没有帮助”。
In a response on late Thursday, the Philippine foreign ministry bemoaned comments it said were "hardly helpful" given the two countries' complicated ties.
“中国大使景泉今天的用词不当，似乎在暗示使用武力的赤裸裸威胁，这令人遗憾，”外交部在一份声明中表示。
"It is regrettable that Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan today had a poor choice of words that would seem to convey a thinly veiled threat of the use of force," it said in a statement.
菲律宾海岸警卫队发言人杰伊·塔里耶拉少将早前曾称景泉的言论为“直接威胁”。
Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela had earlier called Jing's pronouncement a "direct threat".
“当一个更大的邻居反复违法，然后告诉人们应该庆幸情况没有更糟时，没有人会感到幸运，”他在一篇帖子中写道。“不对你已经侵犯其权利的国家使用武力，这不是和平，而是以其他形式的胁迫！”他还说，菲律宾海岸警卫队人员经常遭到撞击和水炮袭击。
"No people feel fortunate when a larger neighbour repeatedly violates the law and then tells them to be thankful it was not worse," he said in a post on "Not using force against a country whose rights you are already violating is not peace. It is coercion by other means!" he said, adding that Philippine coast guard personnel were often subjected to ramming and water cannons.
中国驻马尼拉大使馆在确认景的言论后，指责塔里耶拉将其言论断章取义，并蓄意破坏双边关系。
The Chinese embassy in Manila, while confirming Jing's remarks, accused Tarriela of taking them out of context and scheming to undermine bilateral relations.
“(景) 强调，中国视菲律宾为隔海相邻的邻国，并因深厚的历史和文化纽带而与中国结为朋友，” 大使馆表示，并补充称其仅寻求 “稳定的关系”。
"(Jing) emphasised that China views the Philippines as a neighbour across the sea and a friend bound to China by deep historical and cultural ties," it said, adding it sought only "stable relations".
上周，菲律宾海岸警卫队指责其中方同僚在有争议的南海一处有争议的浅滩附近，阻碍了一名生病的菲律宾士兵的医疗撤离。
Last week, the Philippine Coast Guard accused its Chinese counterparts of obstructing the medical evacuation of an ailing Filipino soldier near a disputed shoal in the contested South China Sea.
周三，特奥罗驳斥了菲律宾副总统萨拉·杜特尔特将菲律宾描述为东南亚麻烦制造者的说法。
On Wednesday, Teodoro disputed Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte's characterisation of the Philippines as a troublemaker in Southeast Asia.
“中国才是麻烦制造者，因为就南太平洋而言，他们正在干涉。他们甚至在投放导弹，” 他表示，并提及六月份一次引发地区抗议的远程弹道导弹试射。
"China is the troublemaker, because as far as the South Pacific, they are interfering. They are even dropping missiles," he said, referencing a long-range ballistic missile test in June that drew regional protests.