China Tells Teodoro to 'Cut the Provocations and Theatrics' After Seoul Note Rebuke; Defense Chief Says He's 'Not an Actor'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on September 9, 2026 that she was 'not familiar with' the note-passing incident at the Seoul Defense Dialogue the day before, but reiterated Beijing's rejection of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral ruling, calling the Philippines' case a 'distortion and abuse' of UNCLOS's dispute-settlement mechanism and asserting 'it is the Philippine side who has violated UNCLOS and undermined its integrity and authority.' 'We urge the certain individual of the Philippine side to cut the provocations and theatrics, and stop undermining China-Philippines relations and stability in the South China Sea,' Mao said in a statement posted to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines' Facebook page. Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. responded on September 10, rejecting the characterization: 'I'm not an actor, I don't know theatrics,' he said, confirming the handwritten note had indeed come from a Chinese defense attache and been relayed to him by Seoul forum staff. 'Please ask them, I have too much respect for our Korean brothers and sisters to stage something like that,' he said, calling into question China's own account rather than his conduct on stage.