Philippines Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has publicly challenged China over its position on the South China Sea arbitration, after a note backing Beijing’s legal arguments was unexpectedly handed to him during a defence forum in Seoul. Teodoro was discussing maritime security and the South China Sea at the Seoul Defence Dialogue when a staff member approached and placed the note on his table. He paused, asked whether it had come from China, and then read it aloud before directly questioning Beijing’s interpretation of international law and the 2016 arbitration ruling.
The note argued that China’s position on the South China Sea arbitration was clear, consistent and firmly grounded in international law. It also described the 2016 arbitration award as unlawful, invalid and non-binding.
Teodoro immediately challenged those claims, pointing to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which the Philippines brought its case against China.
“So you signed UNCLOS,” Teodoro said, questioning how Beijing could reject the legal implications of the convention while being a party to it.
The 2016 tribunal ruling rejected China’s expansive claims to historic rights across large parts of the South China Sea. It also found no legal basis for Beijing’s claims to resources within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
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Teodoro said the incident went beyond the long-running legal dispute between Manila and Beijing. He described the manner in which the note was delivered as disrespectful to the forum’s organisers and to South Korea, which was hosting the event.
“If this is China’s position,” Teodoro said, it represented not only an affront to international law but also a failure to show basic courtesy to South Korea and other participants at the forum.
He accused Beijing of putting pressure on other countries and urged China to respect basic diplomatic etiquette.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the note was sent by a Chinese military attaché from the Chinese embassy in Seoul. The attaché reportedly instructed a forum staff member to deliver it to Teodoro.
However, the staff member mistakenly believed the document was a message intended for the Philippine delegation. As a result, the note was handed directly to Teodoro while he was speaking.
The unexpected delivery turned an already sensitive South China Sea dispute into a highly visible diplomatic confrontation at an international defence forum.
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