President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Friday he would summon Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan over the envoy’s remarks that China could easily win a military conflict with the Philippines if it chose to use force.

“It sounds very much to me like a threat, and it is not a very diplomatic statement to be made. So we perhaps would like to understand what exactly it is that he means,” Marcos said.

Asked whether he would summon the Chinese envoy, the President said, “That deserves a discussion between the ambassador and myself.”

Jing made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the second Diliman Dialogues, organized by the Philippines-China Studies Center of Diliman College in Quezon City.

“If we want to use force, we may easily win. But no, we will not use force. You know, we love peace,” the Chinese ambassador said.