Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro sharply rebuked China during an international security forum in Seoul after a Chinese military attaché sent him a note challenging the landmark 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling while he was speaking.
The confrontation took place on Sept. 8 during the Seoul Defense Dialogue, where Teodoro was discussing maritime security and the importance of adhering to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, the note originated with a Chinese military attaché at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul. The attaché gave it to a forum staff member, who apparently mistook it for a message from Teodoro’s own delegation and delivered it to him during the panel discussion.
Teodoro reads Chinese note aloud
Rather than setting the message aside, Teodoro stopped and read portions of it aloud before responding point by point.
The note repeated Beijing’s longstanding position that the South China Sea arbitration was invalid and that China neither accepts nor recognizes the 2016 ruling.
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When Teodoro reached that portion, he responded: “Of course, because you lost.” According to Yonhap, when the note asserted that the arbitration violated international law, Teodoro replied, “So what you’re saying is UNCLOS violates international law? That’s what you mean.”
He then criticized the manner in which the message had been delivered.
“Perhaps basic decency and behavior are what China needs,” Teodoro said, drawing applause from the audience, according to Yonhap. He went further, describing Beijing’s conduct in the South China Sea as “actual coercion, bullying and aggression.”
Teodoro also addressed the Chinese side in Filipino, saying, “maging disente lang kayo nang konti, mahiya naman kayo nang konti,” roughly meaning that they should show some decency and have some shame.
He said he would keep the paper as a reminder of the encounter.
“I will keep this paper as a memento of how desperate China is and how ineffective its position is,” Teodoro said, according to South Korea’s KBS World, which aired audio from the exchange.
2016 ruling remains at center of dispute
The confrontation centered on the international arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China under UNCLOS in 2013.
The tribunal issued its final award on July 12, 2016. The case was administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, although the decision itself was made by an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS. The Permanent Court of Arbitration confirms that the dispute concerned China’s claimed historic rights, maritime entitlements and conduct in the South China Sea.
Among its most consequential findings, the tribunal rejected the legal foundation for Beijing’s expansive historic-rights claims within the so-called nine-dash line.
According to a summary published by the United Nations, the tribunal concluded that “there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources” beyond those provided for under UNCLOS within the areas covered by the nine-dash line.
China refused to participate in the arbitration and has consistently rejected the award. The PCA’s official case record notes that Beijing repeatedly stated that it “does not accept the arbitration initiated by the Philippines.”
Teodoro argued in Seoul that China’s position was contradictory because Beijing is itself a party to UNCLOS.
When the note claimed the arbitral award had “no binding force,” Teodoro responded, according to Yonhap: “Because you don’t want to be subjected to UNCLOS.”
Beijing fires back at Philippines
China responded publicly to the confrontation on Sept. 9, accusing Philippine officials of provoking tensions and again rejecting the legitimacy of the arbitration.
Asked about Teodoro’s remarks at a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she was “not sure what exactly happened at the event,” but defended Beijing’s position on the South China Sea case.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official transcript, Mao said the Philippines had “unilaterally initiated the case” and accused Manila of distorting and abusing UNCLOS dispute-settlement procedures.
Mao then urged Philippine officials to end what Beijing characterized as provocations and theatrics and accused Manila of undermining China-Philippines relations and stability in the South China Sea.
The exchange comes amid continuing confrontations between Manila and Beijing over disputed waters. The Associated Press reported on Sept. 9 that Teodoro used his Seoul appearance to accuse China of increasingly aggressive efforts to enforce its maritime claims, while Beijing accused the Philippines of “stirring up trouble.”
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