China hits back at Teodoro after he rejects note on South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines — China told Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to stop his "provocations and theatrics" after he publicly rebuked Beijing's position on the South China Sea arbitration in Seoul, South Korea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday, September 9, that she was not familiar with the incident but reiterated China's rejection of the 2016 arbitral ruling.

"China’s position has always been clear on the so-called 'South China Sea arbitration,'" Mao said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines. 

She said the Philippines "unilaterally initiated the case," calling it a "distortion and abuse" of the dispute settlement mechanism under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

"It is the Philippine side who has violated UNCLOS and undermined its integrity and authority," Mao said.

"We urge the certain individual of the Philippine side to cut the provocations and theatrics, and stop undermining China-Philippines relations and stability in the South China Sea," she added.

Mao's remarks came a day after Teodoro received a handwritten note from a Chinese official while answering a question on the South China Sea at the Seoul Defense Dialogue.

The note came from the office of the Chinese embassy's defense attaché in Seoul, who was attending the forum, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported, citing multiple sources.

The Seoul Defense Dialogue is hosted by South Korea's defense ministry and is among the region's larger annual gatherings of defense officials.

The note reiterated China's rejection of the 2016 ruling, saying the arbitration was "illegal, null and void."

Teodoro read portions of the note onstage and responded to each point.

When the note said China "neither accepted nor recognized" the ruling, Teodoro replied: "Of course, because you lost."

Teodoro also questioned why the note was handed to him while he was speaking at the forum.

"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 civilly?" he said.

The Philippines brought its case against China before an arbitral tribunal under UNCLOS in 2013. The tribunal ruled in 2016 that China had no legal basis to claim historic rights to resources within areas covered by the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

China has consistently rejected the ruling, saying it is "illegal, null and void" and has no binding force.

The latest exchange comes amid continuing tensions between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea.

China sanctioned Teodoro and his family in June, barring them from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau and prohibiting Chinese organizations and individuals from conducting transactions with them. — with a report from Cristina Chi

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