Manila's defense chief takes China to task over stance on maritime ruling during Seoul forum

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro lashed out at China at a multilateral security forum in Seoul on Tuesday after he was passed a note reportedly from China's Embassy in Korea while on stage disputing a 2016 international ruling on the South China Sea. 

Teodoro was speaking that morning as a panelist at the Seoul Defense Dialogue, hosted by Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Jung District, central Seoul, when he received a note passed from the audience. 

Pausing his remarks, Teodoro read the note aloud to the room, which asserted Beijing's stance against a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that invalidated China's "nine-dash line" claims beyond its territory in the South China Sea and reaffirmed the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The PCA ruled in 2016 that China's "nine-dash line" — the sweeping historical claim Beijing uses to justify sovereignty over most of the South China Sea — has no legal basis under international law, siding with the Philippines in a case Manila had brought under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The ruling affirmed the Philippines' rights within its 200-nautical-mile EEZ, an area that overlaps with waters China claims. Beijing has continually rejected the ruling as void while carrying on with naval and coast guard activity in waters the tribunal found belong to the Philippines.

"So what you're saying is Unclos violates international law? That's what you mean," Teodoro said from the stage.

Responding to the assertion that the PCA has "no binding force," Teodoro said, "Because you don't want to be subjected to Unclos," while noting that Beijing "neither accepts nor recognizes" the ruling.

"Of course, because you lost," the defense secretary quipped.

Teodoro then held up the slip of paper to the room, denouncing the gesture as a display of China's "desperate and ineffective" stance while accusing Beijing of utter disrespect for international law. 

"Perhaps basic decency and behavior are what China needs," he said, drawing applause from the audience. "This is not a gray zone anymore. This is actual coercion, bullying and aggression."

According to multiple sources, the note was written by the office of the Chinese Embassy's defense attaché in Seoul, who was at the event, to convey the Chinese government's position, and was handed to an event staff member, according to multiple sources.

The staffer passed it directly to Teodoro, exposing the clash between the Philippines and China in public. The incident also drew criticism over how the event was run. Teodoro was one of four foreign minister-level officials who attended the forum that day.

The Philippines and China have had heated exchanges over South China Sea issues at other multilateral forums in the past. Korea's Ministry of National Defense did not issue a statement on the incident.

BY LEE YU-JUNG, YONHAP [[email protected]]