China says delayed invitation left fewer than five days to prepare for ASEAN defense meeting
Key Takeaways
- •The Chinese Embassy said the Philippine Department of National Defense delivered China's invitation on Oct. 22, leaving fewer than five working days before the Oct. 29 ADMM-Plus meeting in Cebu.
- •According to the embassy, other ADMM-Plus member states received their invitations in late September or early October, and China was given only two days to complete registration.
- •The embassy rejected a Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson's assertion that sending a defense attaché rather than Defense Minister Dong Jun signaled disrespect toward ASEAN.
- •China still sent a delegation to the meeting despite what Beijing described as an unworkable preparation timeline.
- •The Philippine DND did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and both governments have argued their positions through social media posts rather than official joint statements.
China accused Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. of deliberately delaying its invitation to the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Cebu, rejecting a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official’s claim that Beijing disrespected the regional bloc by sending only a defense attaché.
In a Facebook post late Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said the Philippines’ Department of National Defense (DND) sent China’s invitation on Oct. 22, leaving its delegation fewer than five working days to prepare for the Oct. 29 meeting.
The embassy said other ADMM-Plus member states received their invitations in late September or early October, giving them more time to arrange their participation.
“Only after other ASEAN countries expressed strong opposition to such acts that the Philippines Department of National Defense reluctantly sent an invitation letter to China on October 22,” it said.
The embassy also claimed that the invitation was signed by a DND undersecretary who did not include a date on the document, and that China was given only two days to complete its registration.
“Under such circumstances, it was virtually impossible to complete the necessary preparation,” the embassy said.
The DND did not immediately respond to a Viber message seeking comment. Any response from the department would present the Philippine side of the invitation timeline, while future ADMM-Plus gatherings will indicate whether China resumes higher-level representation at the forum.
The embassy accused Mr. Teodoro of acting out of self-interest and disregarding the ADMM-Plus principles of openness and inclusivity. It said that while Mr. Teodoro had taken a position contrary to the “ASEAN Way,” China had never singled out the Philippines in its multilateral defense cooperation with ASEAN.
Despite what it described as a tight deadline, the embassy said China still managed to send a delegation to the meeting.
The dispute has turned questions of diplomatic protocol — when invitations arrive and what rank of official attends — into a public contest over respect and standing within Southeast Asia’s defense diplomacy, with both governments making their case through social media posts rather than official joint statements.
The embassy’s statement responded to an earlier Sunday Facebook post by PCG spokesperson Jay Tristan Tarriela, who questioned China’s decision to send its embassy defense attaché instead of Defense Minister Dong Jun.
“The answer is obvious: Beijing belittles ASEAN as a multilateral regional bloc,” Mr. Tarriela said.
He said the ADMM-Plus was not a bilateral engagement with the Philippines but a regional mechanism involving ASEAN member states and their eight dialogue partners.
Established in 2010, the ADMM-Plus groups ASEAN’s ten member states with eight dialogue partners — among them China, India, Japan and the United States — and stands as the region’s main multilateral mechanism for defense-minister-level engagement.
“If Beijing truly respected that platform and the region it represents, it would not throw a tantrum and send only an embassy defense attaché, its lowest level of representation since the mechanism began in 2010,” he said.
Mr. Tarriela also accused Beijing of allowing a personal grudge against one attendee to determine its level of participation. He said other dialogue partners, including India, sent their defense ministers, underscoring the importance of participation in the regional security platform.
The Chinese Embassy rejected that characterization and told Mr. Tarriela to seek clarification from Mr. Teodoro, the DND or other participating countries rather than spread what it called misinformation.
“Don’t deliberately stir up controversy and sow discord based on misinformation,” the embassy said.
