While Philippine vessels continue to bear the brunt of territorial disputes over the West Philippine Sea, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro leads a verbal spat against China and its leaders.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila has called Teodoro out on “unwarranted accusations” against China and his “Cold War thinking.”
“The Philippine defense secretary’s unwarranted accusations against China, as well as his malicious attacks on the Communist Party of China and Chinese leaders, are filled with ideological bias and Cold War thinking,” the embassy said in a message to reporters on Wednesday, March 26.
The Chinese Embassy was responding to a statement the defense secretary made on Monday, March 24. In an ambush interview, he said that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “excessiveness” and aggressive policies could destroy China’s goodwill.
“Ang Communist Party ng China, hindi tatantan ‘yan kung hindi natin haharangin pati ‘yong internal na pagkakalat nila ng mga gawain na hindi kanais-nais,” Teodoro said of the China Coast Guard’s aggressions in the West Philippine Sea and the illegal operations of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
“In China, the people who control their government, they’re not people who you can rely on to approach legal processes fairly,” he said, citing the recent execution of four Canadian drug convicts in China.
On Monday, Teodoro also called China’s claims over the West Philippine Sea “the biggest fiction and lie.”
Ahead of United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to the Philippines on Friday, March 28, China has also warned the Philippines against serving the interests of other nations.
“Any defense or security cooperation between the Philippines and other countries should not target any third party or harm their interest, still less threaten regional peace or escalate tensions in the region,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun in a press conference on Tuesday, March 25.
“Our message to some in the Philippines: stop serving as other countries’ mouthpiece and no more stunt for personal political agenda,” Guo added.
‘Halt Interference in Internal Affairs’
In December 2024, Teodoro said, “If the Chinese Communist Party is truly intent on reducing tensions and instability in the region, they should cease their saber rattling, stop their provocative actions, halt their interference in other countries’ internal affairs, withdraw their illegal presence from the Philippines’ [Exclusive Economic Zone], and adhere to International Law.”
He also expressed support for the deployment of the US Typhon missile system in the country, which Philippine Army Chief Lieutenant General Roy Galido said would protect the Philippines’ maritime claims.
In response, the Chinese Embassy said, “We remind the Philippines to heed the call of regional countries and their peoples, and have the Typhon missile system promptly pulled out as it has publicly pledged, and stop going further down the wrong path.”
The first mid-range missile system was deployed in the Philippines in April 2024 and spotted in Ilocos Norte. Reports from Tuesday state that a second Typhon missile system is on the way to the Philippines for use in joint military exercises with the US.
According to the US Defense Department, Hegseth’s meeting with Teodoro on Friday aims to “drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our alliances and partnerships toward our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
