Philippine Defense Chief Tells Beijing to ‘Have Some Decency, Have Some Shame’

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. criticized the Chinese regime’s aggression at an international security forum after receiving a note outlining Beijing’s stance on the South China Sea dispute while he was addressing the audience.

The unusual episode took place during a panel discussion at the Seoul Defense Dialogue in South Korea on Sept. 9. As Teodoro answered a question on stage, a person who appeared to be a forum staff member placed a piece of paper on the table beside him.

“I have a note here. I think this is from China,” Teodoro paused his remarks and asked, “May I read it?”

He then read the note aloud, which was about Beijing’s rejection of a 2016 international tribunal’s ruling on the South China Sea. He then responded to it point by point.

Noting the manner in which the memo was delivered, Teodoro denounced it as disrespectful to the forum, the audience, and its host, the South Korean government.

“Perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do,” Teodoro said, earning applause from the crowd.

He switched to Filipino and added, “Have some decency. Have some shame.”

Holding up the paper, Teodoro described the move as beyond a gray-zone tactic.

“This is actual coercion, bullying, and aggression,” he stated. “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.”

The incident came amid rising tensions between Beijing and Manila over the South China Sea, where clashes—sometimes violent—frequently have occurred between their coast guard and naval vessels.

The Chinese regime claims authority over almost the entire South China Sea—a strategic and resource-rich waterway—despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its assertion under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Beijing rejected the decree issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and has repeatedly vowed to defend its sovereignty.

Teodoro, who was appointed defense minister in 2023, is a vocal critic of the Chinese regime’s aggression in the South China Sea. Earlier this year, China sanctioned him over his other remarks, saying they undermined Chinese interests and damaged relations with Manila.

At the Seoul security forum, Teodoro thanked the person who wrote the memo.

“You’ve just done your country a great service,” he said. “And I hope you don’t suffer in a gulag for it.”

In a subsequent interview with Philippine state-backed PTV, the Philippine defense chief displayed the handwritten note. The language closely resembles that used by the Chinese foreign ministry when commenting on matters related to the South China Sea.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing forum organizers, reported that the paper came from a military attaché at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, who requested that it be handed to Teodoro. A forum staffer, mistaking it for a message from the Philippine delegation, relayed it to Teodoro while he was speaking on stage, according to Yonhap.

When asked about the incident at the Sept. 9 briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she was not familiar with the specific situation but reiterated Beijing’s opposition to the South China Sea arbitration.

She urged “certain individuals in the Philippines” to “stop seeking attention, stirring up trouble, and undermining the China-Philippines relationship and stability in the South China Sea.”