A defence summit was left stunned when a Philippine official received a note from a Chinese delegate during his speech — and proceeded to read it out loud. Gilberto C. Teodoro, the Defence Secretary of the Philippines, was speaking at the Seoul Defence Dialogue in South Korea on Tuesday local time when a man dressed in a blazer and lanyard placed a note on the table beside him.Be the first to know when news breaks. Download our new appChina had been invited to the event but opted not to send any senior government officials. That did not appear to stop a Chinese man from interrupting Mr Teodoro’s speech, however.“I have a note here, I think this is from China,” he told the audience.Reading the note aloud, he continued, “China’s position on the South China Sea arbitration is clear, consistent and firm. They have no position. The arbitration violates fundamental principles of international law.”The note seemed to refer to a 2016 legal case that the Philippines brought against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The case determined that China was unlawfully reclaiming land in the Philippines’ territorial waters in the South China Sea.After reading the note, Mr Teodoro addressed the crowd again. “How can you deal with a country in an international forum — beyond the question asked to me — disrespecting the organisers of this forum, how do you expect to deal with it civilly?” he asked.“I ask you the question, is this the right paper to post to me when I’m being asked a question on the floor? And how will you treat this kind of behaviour? “It not only disrespects international law, throwing UNCLOS to the floor and trampling upon it, but it also disrespects the basic decency that should be accorded to our most gracious host, the Republic of Korea and the rest of the audience here. So, perhaps basic decency and behaviour is what China needs to do.”Mr Teodoro described the passing of the note to him as “actual coercion, bullying and aggression”. “I will keep this paper as a memento of how desperate China is and how ineffective its position is in the face of a free audience,” he said.“Thank you very much for the person who gave me this piece of paper. You have just done your country a great service.”China, Philippines trade blows with sticks and oarsThe awkward incident in Seoul came just two months after the Chinese Coast Guard and Philippine Navy were filmed clashing with oars and sticks as tensions reached boiling point in the South China Sea.The encounter happened at the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, 194 kilometres west of the Philippines.The shoal is claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, and the Philipinne Navy maintains a garrison on board a World War II-era ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, that was intentionally grounded on the reef in 1999.But China Coast Guard vessels — part of the Chinese military — often visit the shoal, blocking or monitoring Philippine resupply missions to the garrison.