Beijing Sanctions Philippine Defense Chief as Tensions Rise

‘I have no assets in China, and I have no plans to go there,’ Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said earlier this month.

Philippines' Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. delivers a speech during the fifth plenary session at the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore on June 1, 2025. Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese regime has imposed sanctions on Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., the foreign ministry announced on June 11, a rare step as tensions between Beijing and Manila flare.

The sanctions bar Teodoro, his spouse, and children from entering China and ban organizations and individuals within China from engaging in transactions or cooperation with the Philippines defense chief, according to a statement from the regime’s foreign ministry.