Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro called out a handwritten note given to him at a security forum in Seoul, which he said came from China and which criticized the South China Sea arbitration case.
Teodoro was handed the note while he was speaking at the Seoul Defense Dialogue, and he called it “actual coercion, bullying, and aggression” after reading its contents out loud.
Teodoro, a lawyer, invoked the legal principle res ipsa loquitur, which means “the thing speaks for itself.”
“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? I ask you the question, is this the right paper to pose to me when I’m being asked a question on the floor?” he said.
He said the note disrespects international law by “trampling” upon UNCLOS or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and also disrespects the basic decency that should be given to Korea and to the audience.
“Perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do,” he said, to applause from the audience.
“In Filipino, maging disente lang kayo ng konti. Mahiya naman kayo ng konti. You can translate it in your own language,” he added.
Holding up the note, Teodoro called it “actual coercion, bullying, and aggression.”
“I will keep this paper as a memento of how desperate China is and how ineffective its position is in the face of a free audience,” he added.
China has long criticized the 2016 arbitral ruling that rejected its sweeping claims to historic rights in the South China Sea.
The Philippines filed the case after accusing Beijing of infringing on its sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone and occupying and constructing on disputed maritime features.
China has refused to recognize the ruling.