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The Chinese embassy in Manila has rejected Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo’s claim that its government would retaliate if the Philippines deports illegal Chinese workers from the country.

The embassy said this in a statement released earlier today and posted on its official Twitter account.

The statement was given after Panelo said on Tuesday that the Chinese ambassador in Manila, Zhao Jianhua, told him that if the Philippines were to deport illegal Chinese workers,  and deport Filipino workers from China.

Panelo even called it a “tit for tat” approach.

To be fair, he was just parroting the same line that his boss President Rodrigo Duterte said. Over the weekend, Duterte said because they might do the same thing to Filipino workers living in China.

However, the Chinese Embassy rejected Panelo’s statement. Cue the awkward laughter.

It said: “The Chinese embassy in the Philippines did not say that Beijing would adopt a ‘tit-for-tat’ approach should the Philippine government deport Chinese nationals found working illegally in the country.”

The Chinese Embassy has taken note of media reports on the Presidential spokesperson’s remarks on illegal Chinese workers in the Philippines. The Chinese Embassy hereby clarifies as follows:

— ChineseEmbassyManila (@Chinaembmanila)

It didn’t end there. It also added that it does not encourage its citizens to work illegally in the Philippines, or any foreign country for that matter.

The statement read: “China respects the laws and regulations of the Philippines regarding employment of foreign nationals in the country, and holds that Chinese nationals should not stay or work illegally in foreign countries including the Philippines.”

Finally, it said that it always encourages its citizens to respect the Philippines’ laws.

“The Chinese government has always requested Chinese nationals in the Philippines to observe the (sic) Philippine laws and regulations. The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has been issuing consular notices in this regard,” it said.

Chinese workers in the Philippines have reportedly increased in the past few years, with  where their language skills are needed, ABS-CBN reported.

This has sparked worry among critics, who say that Filipinos are losing out to the Chinese. They pointed out that the 1987 Constitution mandates that .

The controversy has heated up so much that the Senate is currently  into the reported influx of Chinese workers.

Duterte’s government is generally perceived to have pro-China policies with the president even announcing an  one of its oldest allies. He also added that

Because of its closer ties with the Asian superpower, the Philippine government has  that critics have described as onerous.