Philippines defense chief calls out China after note interrupts remarks at Seoul forum: 'Coercion, bullying'

Teodoro, the Defense Secretary for the Philippines, publicly bashed China after he was handed a note outlining China's position on the South China Sea while he was speaking during the Seoul Defense Dialogue in South Korea on Tuesday. While Teodoro was in the middle of speaking, a man in a white sports coat walked up behind him and placed a sheet of paper on the table beside him. "I have a note here, I think this is from China," Teodoro said, stopping short in his remarks.

"And may I read it?" he asked the crowd, before proceeding to read aloud from the note. "China's position on the South China Sea arbitration is clear, consistent and firm. The arbitration violates fundamental principles of international law," the note read.

MASSIVE RISK IN SOUTH CHINA SEA EXPOSED AFTER FOUR-DAY POWER LOSS ON US NAVY DESTROYER The note likely referred to the 2016 legal case that the Philippines brought against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The case, titled the South China Sea Arbitration, determined that China was unlawfully reclaiming land in the Philippines' territorial waters. China has long rebuked the ruling and consistently accuses the Philippines of infringing on China's sovereignty in the disputed waters.

The long-running dispute has created a number of tense standoffs between the two countries' navies. "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?" Teodoro asked the crowd. "I ask you the question, is this the right paper to post to me when I'm being asked a question on the floor?

And how will you treat this kind of behavior? It not only disrespects, shows, if this is a Chinese position sent to me, it not only disrespects international law, throwing UNCLOS to the floor and trampling upon it, but it also disrespects the basic decency accorded that should be accorded to our most gracious host, the Republic of Korea and the rest of the audience here," he continued. RULE JAPANICA: AMERICA AND JAPAN ARE BUILDING THE ALLIANCE CHINA FEARS "So, perhaps basic decency and behavior is what China needs to do.

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. Thank you very much for the person who gave me this piece of paper.