By Priam Nepomuceno
MANILA – Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Sunday said the Chinese Embassy in Manila’s rejection of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) statement on the 2016 Arbitral Award shows their “insincerity and duplicity”.
“The Chinese Embassy statement replying to our Department of Foreign Affairs is a window into the true intentions of the Chinese Communist Party in dealing with our country,” he said in a statement.
Last week, the DFA issued a statement condemning China’s refusal to recognize the 2016 Arbitral Award even as it stressed that this is final and binding.
Earlier, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said it rejects the so-called South China Sea Arbitration and called it “a political manipulation in disguise.”
It also claimed the Arbitral Award “distorted and abused” the dispute-settlement mechanisms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“It clearly shows their insincerity and duplicity which are amply personified by their Embassy officials. We condemn the arrogant display of deceitful indignation by them,” Teodoro said.
“Hindi kapanipaniwala ang mga sinasabi kaya idinadaan sa alboroto (what they are saying is no longer believable, hence they are resorting to agitation).”
Despite this, Teodoro said the Philippines will not be cowed by such actions.
“Hindi tayo pasisiil (We will not be oppressed),” he added. (PNA)
