Beijing tells Manila to 'stop lying' after minister exposes South China Sea note
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro speaks during a panel session at the Seoul Defense Dialogue at The Grand Lotte Seoul hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. Captured from the Seoul Defense Dialogue 2026 YouTube livestream
At Seoul Defense Dialogue, Gilberto Teodoro brands China's handwritten memo on arbitration ruling as 'coercion and bullying'
China has accused Philippine officials of “grandstanding and lying” after Manila’s defense secretary publicly read aloud a Chinese diplomat’s note on the South China Sea that the Philippine minister described as “coercion, bullying and aggression.”
“We urge certain people in the Philippines to stop this grandstanding and lying, and to protect China-Philippine relations and the peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Mao was responding to a question regarding the remarks of Gilberto Teodoro who — while speaking at a Seoul Defense Dialogue session on Tuesday — received a note reiterating China’s position on the South China Sea arbitration.
Teodoro read out parts of the handwritten note, which included Beijing’s rejection of the arbitration and a statement that the award in 2016 denying most of China’s claims in the South China Sea, was “illegal, null and void”.
The forum organiser later said the note came from a military attache at the Chinese embassy in Seoul, who passed it to a forum staff member and asked that it be given to Teodoro, according to Korean news agency Yonhap.
Teodoro said the move was impolite to their Korean hosts.
“How can you deal with a country in an international forum beyond the question asked to me?” he said. “Disrespecting the organisers of this forum, how do you expect to deal with it civilly?”
Teodoro said the note also showed disrespect for international law.
“So, perhaps basic decency and behaviour is what China needs to do … This is actual coercion, bullying, and aggression,” he said, adding that he would keep the note as a “memento of how desperate China is.”
On Wednesday, the Philippine foreign ministry weighed in, with assistant secretary and spokeswoman Analyn Ratonel saying in Manila: “We respect the statement and views of Secretary Teodoro.”
Tuesday’s episode came amid heightened tension over the disputed waters in the South China Sea, where confrontations — and sometimes clashes — between coastguard and naval vessels from China and the Philippines have prompted concern of a military escalation that could draw in the United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines.
In June, in a rare move targeting a sitting senior foreign official, Beijing announced sanctions on Teodoro for what Beijing said were erroneous remarks against China that undermined China’s legitimate interests and damaged bilateral relations.
Read the article at SCMP.