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Beijing tells Manila to ‘stop lying’ after minister exposes South China Sea note

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Laura ZhouPublished: 7:31pm, 9 Sep 2026Updated: 7:36pm, 9 Sep 2026China 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.

Mao was responding to a question regarding the remarks of Gilberto Teodoro Jnr who – while speaking at a Seoul Defence Dialogue session on Tuesday – received a note reiterating China’s position on the South China Sea arbitration.

Teodoro read out parts of the handwritten note, which included Beijing’s rejection of the arbitration and a statement that the award in 2016 denying most of China’s claims in the South China Sea, was “illegal, null and void”.

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.

Teodoro said the move was impolite to their South Korean hosts.

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