China has called on the Philippines to “stop lying” after the country’s Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. released the contents of a handwritten note regarding an arbitration ruling in the South China Sea. The incident occurred during the Seoul Defence Dialogue forum, where the minister described the note received from the Chinese side as “coercion and intimidation.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said certain Philippine representatives should cease “stunts and lies” and instead work to protect China‑Philippines relations, as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea.
What was in the note
During his address, Gilberto Teodoro Jr. read excerpts from a handwritten note in which Beijing rejects the 2016 arbitration ruling. The document stated that the ruling, which dismissed most of China‘s claims in the South China Sea, is “illegal, null and void.”
According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, the forum organizer later said the note had been delivered by a military attaché from the Chinese embassy in Seoul. The attaché handed it to a forum staff member with a request to pass the document to Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
The Philippine secretary said the move was disrespectful to the South Korean hosts of the event.
Source: South China Morning Post
