Row over China flags sold in Philippine park: Chinese embassy in Manila speaks out

Images claiming to show four people selling the flags at Manila’s Luneta Park days before the Philippines’ Independence Day have sparked fury online

Under Philippine law, it is illegal for foreign flags to be displayed in public or used in commercials

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Four people seemingly selling Chinese flags at the Luneta Park in Manila. Photo: Facebook

Published: 8:44pm, 11 Jun 2019Updated: 3:37pm, 13 Dec 2019

Staged photographs showing vendors selling Chinese flags in a Philippine park ahead of the country’s Independence Day should be condemned if they were an attempt to undermine bilateral relations, the Chinese embassy has said.

The embassy’s intervention comes after the photos, which purportedly show four people selling the flags at Luneta Park in Manila, sparked fury online at the weekend and reignited a debate about Chinese influence in the country.

Under Philippine law, it is illegal for foreign flags to be displayed in public or used in commercials.

Many social media users in the Philippines reacted negatively to the pictures, hitting out at what they perceived as undue influence from Beijing. In one post typical of the public’s response, Facebook user Martin Masadao criticised Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, writing: “Chinese flags are sold in Luneta! Are we going to be a province of China?”

However, an investigation by the national park authorities has since found the four people in the photograph were paid to pose as if they were selling the flags.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, the Chinese embassy noted that the incident had occurred on China-Philippines Friendship Day.