By Karen Lema
MANILA, June 12 (Reuters) - The Philippines defence chief said on Friday he would continue to do his duty in the face of “wickedness” committed by China, a day after the official was sanctioned by Beijing for what it described as repeated “erroneous remarks”.
Ties between China and U.S. ally the Philippines have soured in the past few years, with frequent spats as Manila, under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, pushes back at what it sees as aggression by Beijing. China has accused the Philippines of repeated encroachment in its waters in the disputed South China Sea.
“That is truly what they do to those who speak the truth against their deception,” Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a statement on Friday.
“I will just keep doing my duty and uphold our nation in the face of the wickedness they are committing here and even in our seas,” Teodoro added.
China’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Thursday against Teodoro and his close relatives, saying he had “repeatedly made erroneous remarks concerning China” which had undermined China’s legitimate interests and bilateral ties.
Manila’s foreign ministry said it viewed the sanctions as an “unfriendly act that further complicates bilateral relations.”
“Such measures do not contribute to building mutual trust, managing differences responsibly, or creating the conditions necessary for constructive engagement between our two countries,” it said in a statement late on Thursday.
The sanctions put Teodoro among other foreign officials who have faced similar actions by Beijing in recent years.
China sanctioned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his criticism of the Chinese government and human rights accusations when he was still a senator in 2020. Beijing has since found a diplomatic workaround in the Chinese translation of Rubio’s name that allowed him to join U.S. President Donald Trump last month for a summit that sought to stabilise ties.
In 2021, Beijing also imposed such sanctions on five European Union lawmakers over their allegation of Chinese persecution of Muslims in the northwestern Xinjiang region. These sanctions were lifted last year as China pursued closer relations with EU to limit damage from Trump’s tariffs war.
Beijing accused the Philippine defence chief last week of having no gratitude for China’s supply of important commodities and of using issues about people’s wellbeing for political showmanship, after Teodoro’s remarks about China being a threat.
“For countries like the Philippines … which is under severe threat territory-wise and politically too by China, we have no choice but really to be resilient and to stand up against Chinese aggression,” he had told Reuters on the sidelines of Singapore’s Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defence forum.
Earlier this week, Manila took diplomatic action against Beijing for what it called the “illegal presence” of a floating structure in a disputed atoll.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Chris Reese and Lincoln Feast)
