Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro was in the middle of his remarks to a defense forum in South Korea on Tuesday when China tried to intimidate him by having a note hand-delivered to his seat on the stage.
Teodoro was surprised to see a man walk up behind his seat and drop a note on the table next to him while he was discussing the importance of the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) at the Seoul Defense Dialogue on Tuesday.
After glancing at the note, Teodoro decided to reject the intimidation, and embarrass the Chinese, by reading it out loud to the audience.
“I have a note here. I think this is from China. And may I read it?” he asked.
Teodoro proceeded to read the note, which said, “China’s position on the South China Sea arbitration is clear, consistent and firm. They have no position. The arbitration violates fundamental principles of international law.”
This was evidently a reference to China’s loss to the Philippines in a landmark case that was brought before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2016 under UNCLOS. The court completely rejected China’s expansive claims to control almost the entirety of the South China Sea, a claim Beijing infamously marks on its maps with a boundary known as the “Nine-Dash Line.”
The court ruled in 2016 that the Nine-Dash Line was invalid under UNCLOS, a convention China signed in 1982 and fully ratified in 1996. The Philippines also signed UNCLOS in 1982 and ratified the agreement in 1984.
China simply ignored the court ruling against it and has used bullying tactics ever since to force the Philippines, and other claimants, out of the waters it has illegally claimed. In July 2026, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and ten other countries joined the Philippines in signing a joint statement to mark the tenth anniversary of the court ruling by urging China to begin respecting it.
“We reaffirm the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on ‘historic rights.’ We reiterate our strong opposition to any destabilizing or unilateral actions including by force or coercion that threaten peace and stability in the region,” the joint statement said.
After reading the intimidating note Beijing sent him, Teodoro mocked the Chinese onstage.
“So what you signed, UNCLOS, you mean, violates international law. That’s what you mean,” he said.
Teodoro needled China for insisting that it would not accept the court decision: “Of course, because you lost.”
The Philippine defense minister went on to castigate China for dropping its ugly little note on him while he was speaking to 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? I ask you the question, is this the right paper to post to me when I’m being asked a question on the floor?” he exclaimed.
“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 disrespects the basic decency accorded that should be accorded to our most gracious host, the Republic of Korea and the rest of the audience here,” he said.
“So, perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do. This is actual coercion, bullying and aggression,” he said.
“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. Thank you very much for the person who gave me this piece of paper. You have just done your country a great service,” he added sarcastically.
The Associated Press (AP) noted that China did have representatives at the Seoul Defense Dialogue, although they were not featured panelists or speakers. It was not immediately clear who wrote the note that was handed to Teodoro onstage.
On Wednesday, the organizer of the forum said the note was written by a military attaché at the Chinese embassy in Seoul and was handed off to a forum staffer for delivery to the Philippine defense minister.
Before he received China’s note, Teodoro had been in the process of explaining why UNCLOS was so important to the Republic of the Philippines.
“We are one of the five archipelagic states in the world. And our existence as a solidary territorial entity in the world is guaranteed by UNCLOS, of which we fought for,” he said.
“Yet, the battle of narratives and the battle of friction continues daily in the Republic of the Philippines and in ASEAN, for that matter, because of an assertion of a fabulist concoction of history and deviation of international norms and a refusal to submit to the processes provided for as compulsory under UNCLOS,” he said, taking a jab at China.
The Chinese Communist regime was outraged by Teodoro’s act of defiance.
“I’m not sure what exactly happened at the event, but China’s position has always been clear on the so-called ‘South China Sea arbitration,’ sneered Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday.
“The Philippines unilaterally initiated the case, which is a distortion and abuse of the UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanism. It is the Philippine side who has violated UNCLOS and undermined its integrity and authority,” she insisted, reiterating a position held by no other signatory to the agreement.
“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 concluded patronizingly.
The Seoul Defense Dialogue was not the first time Teodoro has clashed with China. In June, Beijing accused him of making “erroneous remarks” about China and took the unusual step of imposing sanctions against the defense minister and his family.
“To uphold China’s national sovereignty, security, and development interests, the Chinese side has decided to ban Teodoro, his spouse and his child from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on June 11.
“Organisations and individuals within China are prohibited from engaging in any transactions, cooperation or other activities with Teodoro, his spouse and his children,” the ministry added.