October 30, 2026

While presiding over the 13th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) on Thursday, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. quickly fired back at remarks by Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang, who had named certain Philippine politicians for obstructing China's participation in the meeting. A Chinese expert told the Global Times that Teodoro has long been adept at playing up a "victim narratives" to attract attention, reflexively opposing every remark and attempting to whitewash his own actions. This time, however, his performance fell flat: the ADMM-Plus meeting organized and hosted by the Philippines saw its lowest-ever level of ministerial representation, with nine countries not sending their defense ministers to the 13th ADMM-Plus, according to information obtained by the Global Times.

When asked why China had sent a defense attaché to the 13th ADMM-Plus in the Philippines rather than its defense minister, Zhang said that, as this year's ADMM-Plus chair, the Philippines had allowed certain politicians to act recklessly, abuse the multilateral platform for their own ends and create numerous obstacles to China's participation. These actions seriously undermined ASEAN's principle of consensus, contravened the open and inclusive spirit of ADMM-Plus, breached basic diplomatic etiquette and infringed upon China's legitimate rights as a member of the mechanism. Most ASEAN countries had questioned and opposed these actions, he said.

Zhang's remarks prompted pushback from Teodoro. At a press conference in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu on Thursday, he said, "So it is China's position, it is not ASEAN's position," adding that "Insofar as ASEAN is concerned, I do not believe our ASEAN member countries feel that way, if not they would have let me know," Philippine news website Inquirer.net reported.

Read more:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202610/1373338.shtml