Philippine defence chief reads out and rebuts Chinese note at Seoul forum

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro paused his remarks on the South China Sea at the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 8 after a staff member handed him a note. He read out its statement rejecting the South China Sea arbitration award and challenged it point by point.

The note came from a military attaché at the Chinese Embassy in South Korea, Yonhap reported, citing the forum's organisers. The attaché asked a staff member to pass it on. Mistaking it for a message from the Philippine delegation, the staff member delivered it while Teodoro was speaking.

Written on Lotte Hotels stationery, the note restated China's position that the arbitration violated fundamental principles of international law and that the award was illegal, void and without binding force. Its latter section said China would safeguard its sovereignty and interests and address maritime disputes through dialogue and consultation.

When he reached the passage saying China neither accepted nor recognised the award, Teodoro replied: “Of course. Because you lost.” GMA reported that he also questioned the propriety of handing him such a note while he was answering a question and called the gesture disrespectful to South Korea, the host.

In its report on the evening of September 8, GMA said it had contacted the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines for comment. The report did not include an embassy response to the incident.

The note echoed the position set out in the Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement of July 12, 2016. Beijing argued that the disputes submitted by the Philippines concerned territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction, and that it therefore would neither accept nor recognise the award.

The Philippines initiated arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2013. Three years later, the tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the convention ruled that China had no legal basis to claim historic rights to resources within the “nine-dash line” beyond the entitlements provided by the convention. The tribunal did not decide sovereignty over islands and reefs or delimit a maritime boundary between the two countries.

A day before the exchange, Teodoro met South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back. According to Yonhap's account of the South Korean Defence Ministry's statement, the ministers discussed expanding defence industry cooperation and agreed to strengthen ties in areas including personnel exchanges and joint exercises.