Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin apologized to China after a string of negative comments on the socialist republic’s founder, Mao Zedong.

“My profound apologies to the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party responsible for its unprecedented achievements and Ambassador Zhao [Jianhua,] for using the Great Helmsman’s name in vain,” Locsin tweeted Sunday.

“All this revisionism makes me—as the first defender of “Red China”—forget my admiration,” he added.

“Great Helmsman” is among the monikers conferred on Mao.

The Foreign Affairs chief has been firing off several tweets which criticized Mao in the past two weeks, beginning with a suggestion to move on from the philosophies of Vladimir Lenin and Mao — whom he called “Mao Che Tutung.” Tutong is “burnt rice” in Tagalog.

Locsin also commented about a book of Dutch-born historian Frank Dikötter on China before communist rule under Mao, which he described as a “horrifying long, long period of Chinese history.” He added that Dikötter’s book on the famine faced by China under Mao “is next.”

In another tweet, Locsin again referenced the famine under Mao when he said Presidential Spokesperson Panelo won in accepting the challenge of left-leaning organizations for him to commute to work.

“It was a giant win for Sal Panelo because he answered the challenge and pulled it off and that was the point, right? Of course it is. Unless you're a f****** communist then the only point is to take power and unleash a famine like Mao did,” Locsin said.

Historians said millions died under Mao’s rule due to a three-year famine, which they attributed to a combination of new government policies, social pressure and adverse weather events.

China’s government, however, denies that Mao’s policies contributed to the famine, and instead point to the natural disasters that occurred in that period.