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.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2025/06/03/gibo-lauded-for-response-to-chinese-officials-queries-on-south-china-sea-dispute
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2025/06/03/gibo-lauded-for-response-to-chinese-officials-queries-on-south-china-sea-dispute
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00:00Recently, the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the Russian-Ukraine war is a proxy war between nuclear powers and needs to be ended.
00:15And meanwhile, the United States is setting more arms to this region and setting up more military bases in the Philippines.
00:23So, if the proxy war in Europe needs to be ended, are you concerned that a proxy war in Asia might be launched? Thank you.
00:35Actually, I really appreciate the viewpoint made by Deputy Prime Minister from Thailand.
00:43He said we should push forward cooperation and unity, not the division.
00:48So, it is inappropriate for the minister from Lithuania to attach a label on China, and it's clear rhetoric for division here in Asia.
01:04And my question is for the Philippine Secretary of Defense.
01:09As we know, both Vietnam and Malaysia have differences with China in the South China Sea.
01:18Yet, both countries have effectively managed these differences with China.
01:26So, my question is, why can't the Philippines do the same?
01:32And yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar mentioned, he advised your president to engage dialogue and communication with China.
01:44So, will the Philippines follow his advice and change its current approach to the South China Sea issue?
01:53All that the Philippines intend to act as a proxy for external powers, continue to serve as a shadow in the shadow play,
02:07as described by Singapore's former Defense Minister Nguyen at this year's Munich Security Conference.
02:20Now, to our Chinese interlocutors, I shall address you collectively.
02:30And thank you for the propaganda spills disguised as questions.
02:34First, the comparison between the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
02:50Let us not forget that while we are members of ASEAN, we are sovereign countries, each with its own territorial integrity and sovereignty.
03:03And I am sure that if what China is doing to the Philippines is done to Malaysia or to any ASEAN country,
03:18you would see a different reaction.
03:20And certainly, as an ASEAN brother, the Philippines will stand up with that ASEAN brother in time of need,
03:31in support and in defense of what is international law and UNCLOS.
03:39As members of UNCLOS, we are all committed to support it.
03:46On the dialogue with China, unfortunately, in my personal opinion,
03:56the fact that the question was asked in the way it does,
04:02it engenders a deficit of trust in China's words vis-a-vis its actions.
04:11I just look back to 1995 on a place called Bischief Reef.
04:18There were a few bamboo structures erected there.
04:23And China said that these were temporary havens for fisherfolk.
04:30Now, you have an artificial military island, heavily militarized.
04:43China says that it has peaceful intentions.
04:46Why does it continue to deny the Philippines its rightful provenance under international law and UNCLOS?
05:03And as proof of this, we do not stand alone.
05:06No country in the world supports the nine-dash line claim of China or the idea that waters within this nine-dash line are internal waters of China.
05:25Several countries in the world, no less than 50, have joined the Philippines in condemning China's behavior in the South China Sea.
05:41None have agreed with China.
05:46And none has condemned the Philippines for standing up against China in the face of a threat to its territorial integrity and sovereignty,
05:57for which I thank the members in this chamber right now for your support.
06:05And thus, for dialogue to be effective, it must be coupled with trust.
06:11And China has a lot of trust-building to do, to be an effective negotiating partner in dispute settlement.
06:26We have to call a spade a spade.
06:31And that's what we see, and that is the biggest stumbling block to dispute resolution or dialogue with China.
06:41That 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 me.
07:03And lastly,
07:04And lastly, external policy sometimes is a mirror of internal conditions.
07:11And vice versa.
07:14I, for one, cannot trust a country which imposes, represses its own people.
07:28I hope I have answered the propaganda to the satisfaction of everyone in this room.
07:38For one, could dry, let's pee a little more?
07:39All right.
07:39For the one, not it can be you.
07:40Oscopoly has a