Teodoro hits China at Seoul forum: ‘Maging disente naman kayo’ 

MANILA, Philippines — At a dialogue attended by defense and military officials, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. criticized Beijing for “disrespecting” international law and the crowd at the Seoul Defense Dialogue after he was slipped a note apparently outlining China’s position and rejection of the landmark 2016 Arbitral Award.

In a video clip posted by the Department of National Defense on Tuesday, September 8, Teodoro, a sitting Cabinet official sanctioned by China, is interrupted mid-answer as someone hands him a note on a piece of paper. 

“I have a note here. I think this is from China,” said Teodoro, among the loudest voices in the Philippines against Beijing’s actions in maritime, domestic, and even diplomatic spaces. Teodoro spoke during the first plenary session of the forum, titled “Collaborative Architecture for International Stability.” 

Teodoro went on to comment on China’s stand on the landmark ruling, which affirmed the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea that it calls the West Philippine Sea. The same award found China’s historical claim of the vast waterway without basis, and said Beijing’s island building activities damaged the fragile marine ecosystem. 

China has refused to recognize the award and calls it “illegal, null, and void” even if it ought to be binding under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of which Beijing is a signatory to. 

After criticizing Beijing’s stand line by line, Teodoro said: “How can you deal with a country in an international forum — beyond the question asked to me — disrespecting the organizers of this forum? How do you expect to deal with it civily?” 

“Is this the right paper to post to me when I’m asked a question on the floor? And how will you treat this kind of behavior? If this is a Chinese position sent to me, it not only disrespects international law — throwing UNCLOS to the floor and trampling upon it — but it also disepresects the basic decency that should be accorded to our most gracious host, the Republic of Korea and the audience here. Perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do,” said Teodoro.

The audience at the dialogue erupted into a strong, albeit initially hesistant, round of applause. 

He added: “In Filipino, maging disente lang kayo ng kaunti, mahiya naman kayo ng kaunti (Try to show some shame and decency).” 

Teodoro said the note was proof of “actual coercion, bullying, and aggression.”

“We need to coalesce,” he said. 

The plenary session that Teodoro was a part of was centered on how “norms and multilateral institutions… [are] once again being tested by today’s international security environment.” 

The conference note for the session reads: “Discussions will focus on restoring strategic trust, preventing crises and managing conflicts, strengthening the effectiveness of multilateral institutions, enhancing the roles of international organizations and regional security frameworks, and designing governance mechanisms that encompass security, economic, and technological domains.” 

“I will keep this paper as a memento of how desperate China, is and how ineffective its position is in the face of a real audience. Thank you very much to the person who gave me this piece of paper. You have just done your country a great favor and I hope you don’t suffer in a gulag for it,” said Teodoro, eliciting another round of applause. 

This is not the first — and is unlikely to be the last — time Teodoro has taken China to task at an international forum. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the region’s premier defense forum, Teodoro has twice openly lambasted Beijing over its actions in the South China Sea and beyond.

At the 2026 edition of the forum, Teodoro warned against trusting Beijing as Southeast Asian countries and China seek to conclude negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea.

Shortly after those remarks in Singapore, Beijing imposed sanctions on Teodoro, his wife, and son. He is the first sitting Cabinet member of the Marcos administration to be sanctioned by China.

Bilateral ties between Manila and Beijing have been strained in recent years, as the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has taken a stronger stance on the West Philippine Sea and in implementing the 2016 Arbitral Award.

Manila’s assertion of both its entitlements and claims has meant tense confrontations between Philippine and Chinese maritime forces in flashpoints in the South China Sea.

At the Manila Strategy Forum on September 10, Teodoro said Beijing’s military attache in Seoul handed the note to a staff member of the Seoul Defense Dialogue, who then handed it to Teodoro while he was on stage. 

South Korea-based Yonhap also reported the same. According to their report, the dialogue’s staff member thought the note came from the Philippine delegation. 

Teodoro said he had not spoken to his Chinese counterpart. “We have no mil-to-mil relations,” he told reporters. But the Philippine defense chief said Manila’s ambassador to Seoul, Therese Fernandez, was present during the dialogue.

“I think it was communicated properly to [China],” he said, when asked if he would communicate with Beijing through the Department of Foreign Affairs instead. – Rappler.com