Xi's idea of multipolarity is 'concerning' - Teodoro

Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday, Sept. 8, criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping’s advocacy to create a Beijing-led “multipolar world” which is seen as a counter to the Western narrative of a United States-led international order.

- By MARTIN SADONGDONG

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Seoul Defense Dialogue in South Korea, Teodoro said the Sino-American strategic competition has intensified in recent years as geopolitical rivalries harden and mistrust deepens across oceans and continents.

He said a disproportionate focus on great power competition implies that smaller states like the Philippines and South Korea “are merely doing the bidding of so-called major countries as if we were pawns with no strategic agency.” Further, he said such framing “clouds the judgment” of the international community as it “masks the ambition of certain countries to reshape the global governance system for their own gain at the expense of the rest of the world.”