Philippine defence chief rips China officials in testy exchange over disputed waters

Straits Times

2 days ago

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said China's military was 'grabbing territory in the South China Sea'. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
SINGAPORE – Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro engaged in a testy back-and-forth with Chinese officials at a Singapore security forum on June 1, accusing leaders in Beijing of grabbing territory in disputed waters and repressing their own people.
During a panel at the Shangri-La Dialogue, two senior colonels in the People's Liberation Army directed questions at Mr Teodoro, asking whether the Philippines would serve as a US proxy in Asia or adopt a friendlier approach toward China.
Mr Teodoro thanked the pair for 'propaganda spiels disguised as questions', a line that received rare applause from those in attendance.
He went on to lambast China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying a lack of trust in Beijing was 'the biggest stumbling block' to resolving the dispute.
'That deficit of trust, which I think any rational person – or any person that is not ideologically biased, with freedom of thought and freedom of speech – will agree with,' Mr Teodoro said.
He added that he couldn't trust a country that 'represses its own people'.
Tensions between China and the Philippines have escalated under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has pushed back against Beijing's sweeping claims over the strategic waterway, leading to confrontations between their ships.
Manila in May said China's Coast Guard fired a water cannon on a state fisheries vessel conducting research in Sandy Cay in the Spratlys area.
'To envision a China-led international order, we only need to look at how they treat their much smaller neighbours in the South China Sea, which runs counter to the 'peaceful rise' they initially promised,' Mr Teodoro said.
China claims more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea and backs this up with a 1947 map that shows vague dashes outlining its claims, which are disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.
In 2016, an international tribunal said China's sweeping claims have no legal basis, a ruling that Beijing rejects.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin later on June 1, Mr Teodoro said China's military was 'grabbing territory in the South China Sea' and expanding its presence to the Arctic and off Australia.
'For us, our biggest threat is China,' he said. 'And on that, we converge not only with the United States but with other countries.'
The South-east Asian nation is on the front lines of US-backed efforts to deter China in the region, with the long-time allies ramping up military drills to enhance interoperability.
Apart from granting the US military access to more Philippine bases, including some in close proximity to Taiwan, Manila has also signed agreements on mutual military visits with Japan and New Zealand, and is in discussions on similar pacts with Canada and France.
China has built artificial islands with military infrastructure in contested waters to bolster its expansive claims.
The Philippines has a 'variety of options' in the event Beijing seizes a reef that's close to Philippine shores.
'We have to uphold our territorial integrity and sovereignty,' Mr Teodoro said. 'And we have devised options in our toolkit to deal with contingencies, and we plan for these and train for them accordingly.' BLOOMBERG
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