Gibo snubs China at ADMM-Plus

It was but a bit of drama in what is usually a predictable ritual in any meeting under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As China’s representative to the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting made his way down a short red carpet walk at the Mactan Expo in Lapu-Lapu City, the camera panned to show the Philippines’ representative. Then a handshake and a quick pause for the cameras. What was not so routinary were the ranks of the two representatives. For China, it was the defense attaché assigned to the embassy in Manila. For the Philippines, an undersecretary who’s been representing the country in senior officials’ meetings. Just a few minutes ago, no less than Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. welcomed representatives of ADMM’s Plus partners — including deputy ministers ranked below him — to the meeting.

It was a snapshot (or a preview, maybe) of the awkwardness and complications that can happen when a Filipino official sanctioned by Manila’s sometimes belligerent neighbor is also chairperson of a regional bloc. There are a lot of things to unpack from the quick exchange. First, for the first time, China sent only a defense attaché — who is based in the Philippines anyway — to represent it in ADMM, ASEAN’s premiere platform for defense diplomacy. Chinese Communist Party tabloid Global Times framed it this way: it was the “lowest-level Chinese representation at the ADMM-Plus since its inaugural session in 2010” and that, quoting analysts, the “downgraded attendance is attributable to the Philippines. ” The snub didn’t originate from Beijing. In early September 2026, when asked about China’s participation in the ADMM-Plus, Teodoro was uncharacteristically coy when asked how he’d handle hosting his Chinese counterpart. When pressed if there was a chance…