Taho-throwing has nothing to do with disrespect to nation

Though a Chinese student made the headlines in the Philippine media over her disrespectful tahothrowing move toward a Philippine police officer, netizens have urged calm over the incident.

The hot topic of Chinese insulting a Philippine law enforcer has caused an uproar in the Philippines after media reported that Chinese fashion design student Zhang Jiale threw a cup of “taho,” or soy pudding, at Philippine police officer William Cristobal on February 9.

Though Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo further fueled the incident by saying “What happened is not just disrespect against our police but also our country,” netizens in the Philippines called for calm.

“This issue has been exaggerated ... On what basis does she become a threat to national interest?” said netizen Vincent on Philippine news website philstar.com.

It is undeniable that Zhang’s taho-throwing is irresponsible and totally wrong, as the officer was just telling her to finish the dessert before entering the station.

On Chinese social media platform Weibo, many Chinese netizens expressed their disapproval of Zhang’s actions, saying she is losing the face of Chinese people.

Since President Rodrigo Duterte came into office, China-Philippine relations have stabilized, after turbulence during Benigno Aquino III’s tenure.

More than 1.2 million Chinese visited the Philippines in 2018, making China the second largest source of international tourists to the country, the Philippine tourism department said in January, a sharp increase from 675,000 in 2016 when Aquino III left office.

“A small isolated incident can be amplified by the media. This reflects a sense of distrust in Philippine society, which is derived from the dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea during the Aquino administration,” said Dai Fan, a professor at the School of International Studies of Jinan University in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

“For their political ends, the opposition often smears and gives a malicious interpretation of China-related incidents, and to some extent misleads the people of the Philippines,” he said.

Zhang faces deportation from the Philippines, as she deserves to be punished for what she had done, but such an isolated case should not be treated as a nation insulting another.