Teodoro scores Chinese 'lies' about Ayungin deal

Secretary of Defense Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro. PHOTOS BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

CHINA lied when it claimed that it reached an internal agreement on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal with the Philippine government on a “new model” for dealing with their territorial dispute.

“This charade must stop,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said, referring to Chinese Embassy pronouncements that Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian had briefed Teodoro on a “gentleman’s agreement” during his courtesy call on the defense secretary in July 2023.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Teodoro said there was no discussion or briefing on any “gentlemen’s agreement” or “new model” during Huang’s courtesy call.

Since the courtesy call, he said, he has disallowed any contact between the Defense Department and the Chinese Embassy.

“I am issuing this statement to generate awareness of this clear attempt by China to advance another falsehood in order to divide our people and distract us from their unlawful presence and actions in our [exclusive economic zone],” he said.

Teodoro advised Filipinos, the media and the international community to “beware of China’s methods of manipulation, interference and malign influence in furthering its interests.”

In a separate statement, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said that China’s “new model” on Ayungin Shoal is “nothing more than a new invention.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, on the other hand, said in a speech that in recent days there have been attempts to call into question the Philippines’ sincerity and good faith, and portray the Filipinos as unreliable actors in negotiations, peddling narratives that the Philippines has sent interlocutors that have entered into informal agreements and understandings, abandoning their claims and entitlements.

However, the Chinese Embassy maintained that the discussion with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command had made repeated confirmations that the “new model” had been approved by all key officials in the Philippine chain of command, including by Teodoro and Año.

The Chinese Embassy spokesman said readouts of the meeting that transpired between Teodoro and Huang at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on July 15, 2023 during the courtesy call of the Chinese diplomat to the then-newly appointed Philippine defense chief were released by the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines.

“The above are facts, not narratives or inventions,” the Chinese Embassy spokesman said.

He said China has always been committed to managing the situation at Ayungin, which the Chinese call Ren’ai Jiao, and maintaining dialogue and communication with the Philippines responsibly.

“It is regrettable that despite the internal understandings and arrangements, peace and tranquility were disrupted again and again at Ren’ai Jiao,” the spokesman said in a statement issued over the weekend.

“More and more questions are racking our brains. Why does the Philippine administration keep denying and resisting the understandings and arrangements? Why does the DND refuse to properly manage maritime differences through dialogue and negotiation?” he asked.

He said the “gentlemen’s agreement” was reached during the previous Philippine administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte while the “new model” was reached during the current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Then why was such a model, which has been proven effective in practice for managing differences and avoiding conflicts, abandoned again by the Philippines without any good reason after it worked only once? And who made the decision to abandon the ‘new model’? Could it be that managing differences and avoiding conflicts go against the interests of certain forces?” said the Chinese Embassy spokesman.