South China Sea: Philippine defence chief labels Beijing’s maritime claims ‘fiction and lie’

Gilberto Teodoro denounced Beijing’s South China Sea claims urging stronger defence and alliances amid rising tensions

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A Chinese coast guard ship in the South China Sea in December 2023. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem

Published: 9:27pm, 24 Mar 2025Updated: 10:14am, 25 Mar 2025

The Philippines’ defence chief on Monday called China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea “the biggest fiction and lie” that no Southeast Asian country would accept, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s aggressive policies had undermined the international goodwill fostered by his predecessors.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro fired off his latest tirade against China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region on the same day that the Philippine coastguard separately reported new incidents involving Chinese forces in the Scarborough Shoal, a hotly disputed fishing atoll in the disputed waterway.

A Chinese military helicopter appeared to have tailed, but did not closely approach, a Philippine lightplane on a routine patrol on Monday over Scarborough. Chinese forces had separately installed a new floating barrier to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering a lagoon in the shoal off the northwestern region of the country, Philippine coastguard Commodore Jay Tarriela told an online news briefing.

There was no immediate comment from Chinese officials, but in the past, they have repeatedly asserted Beijing had sovereign control over the Scarborough Shoal and most of the South China Sea since ancient times.

An international arbitration panel invalidated China’s expansive claims in a 2016 ruling based on the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, but Beijing refused to participate in the Philippines-initiated arbitration and continues to defy the decision.

In a speech marking the anniversary of the Philippine military’s Western Command on Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea, Teodoro underscored the need for a “stronger national defence posture” and continued security engagement with allied countries to address the threat posed by Chinese aggression in the waterway, a key global trade route.

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro labelled China’s South China Sea claims as “fiction”. Photo: AP