"I am asking a question is this the right paper to post to me when I am asked a question on floor ?," Philippines Defence Secretary Gilberto C Teodoro said making a blistering attack on China.
"This kind of behaviour disrespects ... if this is the Chinese position, it not only disrespects International law ... this also disrespects basic decency ... Perhaps basic behaviour and decency is what China needs".
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Teodoro was handed a note from China, outlining Beijing's position on the South China Sea dispute, while he was speaking at a defence forum in Seoul.
He read the note aloud before condemning China's conduct and reiterating the Philippines's position on the dispute.
A man in a white sports coat approached Teodoro from behind and placed a sheet of paper on the table beside him.
Teodoro paused his remarks, picked up the note and began reading it.
"I have a note here, I think this is from China. And may I read it?" he said on Tuesday in remarks that have gone viral.
Teodoro then read the note aloud. The note said China's position on the South China Sea arbitration was "clear, consistent and firm" and that the 2016 arbitration violated "fundamental principles of international law".
The note appeared to refer to the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The tribunal had rejected China's expansive historic-rights claims in the South China Sea, ruling there was no legal basis for Beijing's claims to resources within the Philippines's exclusive economic zone.
China has rejected the ruling and said the tribunal had no jurisdiction.
The note, according to forum organisers, had been sent by a Chinese military attache with the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The attache had handed it to a forum staff member and asked that it be passed to Teodoro.
The staff member, however, reportedly mistook it for a message from Teodoro's own delegation and handed it to him while he was speaking.
As Teodoro realised what he saw as an attempt by China to press its position on the South China Sea dispute in the middle of an international forum, he did not let the interruption pass quietly.
He questioned why such a note had been delivered to him while he was speaking and challenged the legal argument contained in it. "How can you deal with a country in an international forum – beyond the question asked me – disrespecting the organisers of this forum? How do you expect to deal with it civilly?" he asked.
He then accused Beijing of "coercion, bullying and aggression". "Perhaps basic decency and behaviour is what China needs to do," he said.
"If this is a Chinese position sent to me, 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," the defence chief added.
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