‘I am not an actor’: Philippines Defence Secretary rejects China's ‘theatrics’ allegations after viral remarks

Manila: Philippines Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Thursday hit back at China’s “theatrics” remark, saying "I am not an actor” after calling out Beijing for its “disrespect” at the Seoul Defence Dialogue 2026 in South Korea, local media reported.

The remarks came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the “theatrics” comment during a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday following Teodoro’s criticism of China’s position on the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea.

Teodoro questioned what he described as further “theatrical” conduct, citing past remarks by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Mischief Reef in the South China Sea, Philippines media outlet ABS-CBN reported.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Manila Strategy Forum in the Philippines’ Paranaque City, Teodoro said: “What’s more theatrical than Wang Yi saying that Mischief Reef was for peaceful purposes and they would never militarize?”

Teodoro on Tuesday accused China of “actual coercion, bullying and aggression” in the South China Sea after a note restating Beijing's rejection of the 2016 arbitral ruling was delivered to him as he was speaking at a regional security forum in Seoul, local media reported.

While discussing the need to uphold the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) during the Seoul Defence Dialogue, Teodoro received a note that he said appeared to have come from China.

He read excerpts from it, including Beijing’s position that the South China Sea arbitration breached fundamental principles of international law and that the award was “illegal, null, and void” and not legally binding

On Thursday, Teodoro said his response to the note was “instinctive,” unlike China's reaction.

“I think anyone in this order, right and mindful, with a basic sense of values and basic sense of norms, would react. So, I decided to call them out already, finally. It's decency and good behaviour. I think that's foundational and fundamental,” he stressed.

Rejecting questions suggesting that the incident may have been staged, Teodoro stressed. “Ask the Korean organisers. I will not answer them. Please ask them. I have too much respect for our Korean brothers and sisters to stage something like that.”

In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, adjudicating the Philippines’ case against China in the South China Sea, ruled overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, determining that major elements of China’s claim, including its nine-dash line, land reclamation activities, and other activities in Philippine waters, were unlawful. China reacted negatively to the ruling, maintaining it was “null and void".

The South China Sea is one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes and is claimed in whole or in part by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The competing claims have led to repeated confrontations involving coast guard and naval vessels, making the waterway a major strategic flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific.

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