Chen Xiaodong

Chen (right) with Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, September 2024

Chen Xiaodong (born December 1965) was a Chinese diplomat who became the Vice Minister of China's Foreign Ministry in March 2024. After graduating from the Beijing International Studies University with a major in Arabic, he entered foreign service for the Chinese government in 1987. In his early career, he spent different diplomatic roles in Middle East. He was then posted to Pretoria as ambassador to South Africa in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As vice foreign minister, he opposed US intervention in the South China Sea dispute. He described the relationship of the Philippines with the United States as a pawn that "will be inevitably discarded."

In 2024, Chen and Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro had a phone call regarding the South China Sea issue. In January 2025, a bilateral meeting in Xiamen, China was held, led by Chen and Lazaro. Although the DFA agreed to deescalate tensions with China, Lazaro raised concerns over incidents involving the Chinese Coast Guard's presence in the South China Sea. Chen warned the Philippines to act cautiously as both China and Philippine relations were at a crossroads.