Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Sunday hit back on the Chinese Embassy’s response to the Department of Foreign Affair’s (DFA) statement regarding the 2016 Arbitral Award affirming the Philippine’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement, Teodoro described the Chinese Embassy’s statement as a clear demonstration of their “insincerity and duplicity” in their dealings with the country, and called their “indignation” a show of “arrogance.”

“The Chinese Embassy statement replying to our Department of Foreign Affairs is a window into the true intentions of the Chinese Communist Party in dealing with our Country,” the Defense secretary said.

“It clearly shows their insincerity and duplicity which are amply personified by their Embassy officials. We condemned the arrogant display of deceitful indignation by them,” he went on, adding that their sentiments have been outrageous, and so furiously conveyed to assert authority.

“Hindi tayo pasisiil,” Teodoro concluded.

In a statement dated June 23, the Chinese Embassy rejected the 2016 Arbitral Award granted to the Philippines, claiming it was made through “political manipulation disguised in legal garb,” and that the tribunal that had handled the case “distorted and abused” the dispute-settlement mechanisms of the UNCLOS, among other issues.

“Its award is illegal, null and void. China neither recognizes nor accepts the award, nor does it accept any claim or action based on it. China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea are under no circumstances affected by the award,” the Chinese Embassy stated.

Prior to this, the DFA issued a statement slamming China’s disregard for the Arbitral Award, despite being awarded on the basis of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea—a treaty to which both the Philippines and China are parties.