Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Sunday that he chose to avoid meeting with his Chinese counterpart during the 19th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in Malaysia, following Beijing’s accusation that the Philippines was “blackmailing” China.
In a chance interview, Teodoro said China’s defense ministry released a statement saying the Philippines “needs to mend its ways or suffer the consequences” the day before the defense ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
“Would you talk to or offer to talk to somebody who slammed your country that way? Of course not. I would be willing to talk if there was a semblance of good faith,” Teodoro told reporters.
“If they had shown sincerity, I would have talked to them. But how can you talk when, just the day before, they said we’re blackmailing China and that we should ‘mend our ways’? That’s a slap in the face. I will not accept that,” he said.
Teodoro also referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s statement urging nations to “resist unilateral bullying” at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Korea.
“But why is it that when we resist, they object?” he said.
Asked about China’s reaction to the situation, Teodoro replied, “There was none. Their script wasn’t ready.”
