(AP Photo)MANILA: The Philippine defence department has apologised to China for the “grievous but purely unintentional mistake” of using Taiwan's defense ministry logo during a ceremony where the Chinese ambassador turned over thousands of assault rifles to the Filipino defence chief and top military commanders. The defence department did not say in its press statement which country owned the defence logo it displayed instead of the emblem of the China's defence ministry. A Philippine official told The Associated Press it was Taiwan's, adding that Chinese officials called the attention of the Philippines about the faux pas. The defence department stressed that it and the military adhere to the “One China policy”, wherein the Philippine government recognises only the People's Republic of China as the sole sovereign state. Mr Duterte has sidelined long-raging territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea in an effort to attract Chinese investment and infrastructure funds.

Source: Bangkok Post October 09, 2017 08:48 UTC