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Gibo lauded for response to Chinese officials' queries on South China Sea dispute
Gibo lauded for response to Chinese officials' queries on South China Sea dispute
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. responded with brutal honesty to questions from Chinese military officials regarding the South China Sea territorial dispute during an assembly of defense and military leaders, along with other global officials, in Singapore over the weekend.
During a panel at the Shangri-La Dialogue last Sunday, June 1, Teodoro was asked leading questions by Senior Colonel Qi Dapeng and Senior Colonel Zhang Chi, professors at the National Security College and National Defense University in China.
Qi wondered why the Philippines couldn't follow the example of neighboring countries like Malaysia and Vietnam, which he claimed opted for dialogue with China over territorial disputes, accusing the Philippines of choosing confrontation instead. The Chinese official also asked if the Philippines would heed the supposed advice of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar bin Ibrahim to President Marcos Jr. to communicate with China.
Meanwhile, Zhang asked Teodoro if he is concerned that a proxy war might be launched in Asia due to the involvement of the United States in the territorial row between China and the Philippines.
In response, Teodoro took a swipe at the Chinese officials, thanking them for their “propaganda spiels disguised as questions.”
“The fact that the question was asked in the way that it does, it engenders a deficit of trust in China’s words vis-à-vis its actions,” he said. This drew some applause from the crowd, as heard in a video uploaded by the DND on its social media page on Monday, June 2.
According to Teodoro, while the Philippines is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), it is a sovereign country and has its own territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“I’m sure that if what China is doing to the Philippines is done to Malaysia or to any ASEAN country, you would see a different reaction,” he added.
Meanwhile, Teodoro denied that the Philippines is a proxy of the United States for its interests against China, as the two world superpowers compete for regional influence.
“I would like to reiterate that the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea is not a function of Sino-American strategic rivalry. Instead, it is caused, no doubt, by the overreach of the Chinese Communist Party,” the defense chief said, noting that the most glaring evidence of the overreach is the so-called dash-line claims of Beijing, which has already been invalidated by a 2016 international arbitral ruling.
Teodoro further pointed out that China’s pronouncements about its willingness to peacefully resolve its dispute with the Philippines do not match its actions.
He cited China’s reclamation of the Panganiban or Mischief Reef, located 130 nautical miles west of Palawan, within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines.
“There were [a] few bamboo structures erected there and China said that these were temporary havens for fisherfolk. Now you have an artificial military island, heavily militarized,” he said.
“China says that it has peaceful intentions. Why does it continue to deny the Philippines its rightful provenance under international law and UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]?” he asked.
The defense chief also mentioned that many countries have supported the Philippines’ stand for its territorial integrity and national sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea while none backed China’s claims.
“For dialogue to be effective, it must be coupled with trust, and China has a lot of trust-building to do to be an effective negotiating partner in dispute settlement,” Teodoro said.
Earlier, Teodoro and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. also slammed alleged pseudo-journalists from China who released an article accusing the Philippines of encroaching in China’s internal waters in the South China Sea after the military chief refused to answer their questions, calling it mere propaganda.