This Is Going to Make China Very Unhappy

This week there is a big defense conference taking place in Seoul, South Korea. It’s titled the Seoul Defense Dialogue 2026 and this is its 15th year. The purpose of the conference is to have dialogue about peace on the Korean peninsula and beyond. About 1,000 defense leaders from 67 countries are attending this year. 

One of the high-profile speakers at this event is Philippines Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. If you’re a regular reader then you already know that the Philippines has been confronting China in the South China Sea for years. There are near constant interactions at sea, all based on the fact that China claims nearly all of the South China Sea for itself, ignoring the normal rules which assign territorial seas and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which extends 200 nautical miles from the shore of each country. All of those rules are part of something called UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

But China has decided it won’t be held to those rules. Instead, it has been seizing small islands, some of which barely peek above the waves at low tide, dredging around them to build them up and militarizing them to create bases at sea. 

Back in 2016 a court in the Hague issued a ruling which completely undermined China’s claim to the entire South China Sea. China had claimed that the islands it held in the Spratly Islands chain were part of China and that therefore their 200 nautical mile EEZ should extend from that point. The court said no. China’s response was to ignore the ruling.

All of that sets up something that happened yesterday at the Seoul Defense Dialogue. Sec. of Defense Teodoro was asked about the South China Sea and his answer was interrupted by a Chinese military attaché who had a hand-written statement delivered to him in the midst of his answer. Instead of keeping the contents private, Secretary of Defense Teodoro simply read it aloud and tore into China’s bullying.

MAHIYA NAMAN KAYO | Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. responded to a note from the Chinese side during the Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) 2026 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.#DNDPHL #DiKaPasisiil #SDD2026 pic.twitter.com/fsCRVphkgf

— Department of National Defense – Philippines (@dndphl) September 8, 2026

His response made international news:

Reading from the note, the minister said it said “China neither accepts nor recognizes” the arbitration ruling. “Of course,” he added, looking up to the audience, “because you lost.”

“Have a little bit of decency, have a little bit of shame,” Teodoro continued, saying that the note represented disrespect both for the forum and international law.

Teodoro made a personal video in which he displayed the letter up close. You can see it’s hand-written.

China loves to quietly bully people but it hates to have that bullying exposed. So it’s no surprise that China was very unhappy about Sec. Teodoro’s response to their note.

China has accused Philippine officials of “grandstanding and lying” after Manila’s defence secretary publicly read aloud a Chinese diplomat’s note on the South China Sea that the Philippine minister described as “coercion, bullying and aggression”.

“We urge certain people in the Philippines to stop this grandstanding and lying, and to protect China-Philippine relations and the peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said…

The forum organiser later said the note came from a military attache at the Chinese embassy in Seoul, who passed it to a forum staff member and asked that it be given to Teodoro, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Secretary of Defense Teodoro was specifically accused of “stirring up trouble” which is a phrase China uses a lot. It can be applied to any country, representative or individual who does something the government doesn’t like in public. For instance, people who say something negative about China’s government online are accused of stirring up trouble and can get a visit from the police if they don’t stop. Stirring up trouble is a crime in China.

Why does any of this matter to us? For a couple of reasons. One, China is a major adversary of the U.S. that has been aggressively trying to expand its territory and influence around the world. Xi Jinping is a true believer in Marxism who wants to see China’s system take over more of the planet and he believes America is the major alternative standing in China’s way. 

And two, because we have a mutual defense pact with the Philippines. That pact was signed in 1951 and to this day it is seen as covering any attack on the Philippines armed forces in the South China Sea. That’s why China hasn’t been more aggressive toward the Philippines so far.

Finally, here’s a recent video showing some of China’s strategy in the South China Sea.

Why does Scarborough Shoal matter to China’s strategy in the South China Sea? It’s the missing corner of the “iron triangle”, linking the shoal to the Paracel and Spratly islands. China has not built a base there to avoid provoking America. But recent skirmishes with the… pic.twitter.com/fFYeDUe8Fh

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 12, 2026

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