China suspends Philippine defense chief as South China Sea spits future | South China Sea News

Chinese individuals and organizations are also prohibited from doing business with Gilberto Teodoro and his family.

China has banned a senior official from the Philippines and his family from entering the country, based on what he said in Beijing in the South China Sea.

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that Manila-based Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, along with his wife and children, have been banned from entering the country, including Hong Kong and Macau.

It added that “organizations and individuals in China” will not be allowed to “engage in business, cooperation or other activities with him and his wife and child”.

The ban marks another escalation of the long-running economic dispute between the two countries South China Sea. Half a dozen countries, including the Philippines, claim different parts of the sea, but Beijing insists it has jurisdiction over all its waters.

Teodoro’s speech “hurts China’s interests and harms China-Philippines relations,” he said, without specifying what words he meant.

Neither Teodoro nor the Philippine government took immediate action.

‘No plans’

After unconfirmed reports last week about the ban on entering China, Teodoro said: “I have no assets in China, and I have no plans to go there,” according to ABS-CBN reporters.

“Although I would like to visit, because the food is good and the people are kind, that is covered by the government they have,” he added.

Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea are void of a 2016 international resolution that said its claims lacked evidence.

China regularly deploys naval and coast guard vessels in the waterway to prevent the Philippines from reaching key reefs and islands in the region.

Coast guards, warships and civilians from the two countries have been fighting each other regularly.

At a summit in Singapore last month, Teodoro criticized Beijing’s actions in the disputed waters, saying Manila “will not compromise our integrity and sovereignty”.

When asked last week about Teodoro’s comments at the meeting, Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said he was “known to insult China”.

“All they care about is personal gain, so much so that they engage in politics even when people’s lives are at stake,” Mao said.