During a multilateral security conference in South Korea, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro publicly confronted a note handed to him mid-speech, denouncing Beijing’s territorial claims, dismissal of international law, and what he termed actual coercion and bullying in the South China Sea.
A routine international defense forum took a sharp, dramatic turn when a man interrupted a keynote address to hand a physical note to the Philippines’ top defense official. Rather than ignoring the interruption or waiting until the session concluded, National Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. took the document, examined it on the podium, and read its contents directly to the live audience.
The Seoul Defense Dialogue Interruption
The incident occurred on Tuesday at the Seoul Defense Dialogue hosted in South Korea. While Secretary Teodoro addressed the gathering regarding regional security and maritime disputes, an attendee approached the podium and delivered the document from the Chinese side.
Teodoro immediately pivoted from his prepared remarks to address the intervention in real time.
“These are words slipped to me. There is a legal principle called ‘res ipsa loquitur,’ the thing speaks for itself. 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?”
Independent reporting from international outlets noted that the physical origin of the note could not be independently verified on the spot, but Teodoro attributed the text directly to Beijing’s delegation.
Reading Beijing’s Objections Aloud
Rather than keeping the protest confidential, Teodoro recited the lines written on the paper, exposing China’s stance on the long-running sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea to the assembly of international diplomats and military officials.
He read the specific passages declaring that the landmark 2016 international arbitration ruling violated core principles of international law. In 2013, the Philippines had formally filed a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, securing a favorable ruling in 2016 that invalidated Beijing’s expansive historic claims. China has consistently refused to recognize the outcome, famously dismissing the legal award as a mere piece of paper
.
“So China means UNCLOS, which it signed, ‘violates international law.’ That’s what you mean. The so-called award is illegal, null, and void. China neither accepts nor recognizes the award.”
Escalating Tensions and Defense Ties in the Region
China has increasingly deployed coast guard vessels and civilian maritime militias to press its claims without initiating open military conflict—tactics that regional analysts and defense officials characterize as gray-zone coercion.
“This is not gray zone anymore. This is actual coercion, bullying, and aggression. 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 defense chief expressed gratitude to the individual who slipped the note, suggesting the attempt at intimidation backfired by exposing Beijing’s diplomatic sensitivities on an open stage. He maintained that the behavior demonstrated a profound lack of respect not only for international legal frameworks such as UNCLOS, but also for the Republic of Korea as the host nation and the broader assembly of delegates.
Following the forum, Teodoro confirmed on the sidelines of the dialogue that Manila’s security alliance with the United States remains robust under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Joint military activities and bilateral exercises continue to expand across multiple channels to counter ongoing maritime pressures.
The following day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning addressed reporters in Beijing regarding the incident, stating that she was not aware of the specific details of the incident
while accusing Manila of actively provoking trouble in the contested waters.
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