DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Sunday said the Chinese Embassy in Manila’s rejection of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) statement on the 2016 arbitral award is an outright display of “insincerity and duplicity.”
“The Chinese Embassy statement replying to our Department of Foreign Affairs is a window into the true intentions of the Chinese Communist Party in dealing with our country,” Teodoro said in a statement.
Last week, the DFA condemned China’s refusal to recognize the 2016 ruling, but the embassy said it rejects as “a political manipulation in disguise.”
It also said the ruling “distorted and abused” the dispute-settlement mechanisms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
“It clearly shows their insincerity and duplicity, which are amply personified by their Embassy officials. We condemn the arrogant display of deceitful indignation by them,” Teodoro said.
“What they are saying is no longer believable; hence, they are resorting to agitation,” he said.
Teodoro said the Philippines will not be cowed by such actions.
The landmark ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration favored the Philippines and invalidated China’s sweeping “nine-dash line” claims.
The court affirmed Manila’s sovereign rights within its 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
