Overview
- During a Seoul Defence Dialogue session on Tuesday, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro read aloud a handwritten note he said came from China that restated Beijing’s rejection of the 2016 Hague arbitration ruling.
- Teodoro denounced the gesture as disrespectful and called it “coercion, bullying and aggression,” saying he would keep the paper as a memento of China’s position.
- South Korea’s Yonhap reported that a Chinese military attache asked an event staffer to deliver the note, a detail AFP has not independently confirmed and the forum host has not publicly explained.
- China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said she was not aware of the specifics, repeated Beijing’s rejection of the arbitration, and accused Philippine officials of grandstanding and lying.
- On the sidelines of the forum the Philippines and South Korea pledged deeper defence-industry cooperation and ROK support for the 2016 arbitral award and UNCLOS, a move that bolsters Manila’s push to modernise forces and strengthen maritime deterrence.