On June 11, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that China has imposed sanctions on Philippine Defense Minister Teodoro and his relatives.
This is China's first sanctions against foreign current defense ministers.
Looking at this action over a longer period of time, one becomes increasingly aware that China's sanctions are moving towards a more precise and systematic approach, targeting the core decision-makers and their interest networks.
This change is not coincidental.
In the current international situation, some countries are becoming more and more accustomed to portray unilateral provocations as so-called defensive actions. Instead, they label the legitimate efforts of other countries to defend their sovereignty and rights as threats.
For China, the problem is already obvious.
If this narrative continues to develop, actions that provoke confrontation will be presented as efforts to maintain order. The party that truly aims to maintain peace and stability will instead be continuously slandered.
Therefore, China must impose sanctions.
Next, we can also look at the possible actions in the future from three directions.
This sanction requires great determination from China.
In the past, China's sanctions have mainly targeted foreign congressmen and former government officials who hold severe anti-China positions, military enterprises and their leaders, as well as foreign foundations and NGOs with biased and political tendencies.
But this time, China's sanctions have targeted the current foreign defense minister directly. The level, significance, and deterrence of these sanctions are fundamentally different from those in previous cases.
Huo Zhengxin from China University of Political Science and Law told Tan Zhuzhu that, in general, China does not easily sanction senior officials from other countries. This is a relatively rare and intense form of sanctions. China will only resort to such measures when the relevant individuals’ actions related to China seriously harm China’s interests and when the space for normal interaction with China is continuously reduced by the other party.
Currently, sanctions against Teodoro mean that China believes there will be no conditions or necessity to continue any communication with him in the future.
This also indicates that Teodorro's problem is particularly serious.
The Philippines has repeatedly caused trouble in the South China Sea. As the Minister of Defense, Teodoro bears an unshirkable responsibility.
In the past few years, he has been at the forefront of sensitive issues related to China.
He claims that China is a “serious threat” to the Philippines, and attacks and slanders China. At this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, he even spoke grandly.
Meanwhile, he kept creating new confrontational issues:
In 2024, China's Nansha Zhongye Island was occupied illegally by the Philippines, and it became a construction site for Philippine military facilities.
In 2025, against the backdrop of China’s willingness to be the first to sign the protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear Weapons Zone in Southeast Asia, he accused China of not taking the lead in achieving nuclear disarmament.
Sanctions against Teodoro mean that China is focusing on accurately holding accountable those who are at the source of risks. The targets of sanctions have gradually moved from those who promote from outside to those involved in the decision-making process itself.
No matter how high one's position is, how deep one's background, or how extensive one's network, those who continue to provoke China and harm China's sovereignty and security interests will not be exception.
In the future, if there are still parliamentarians and military officials who continue to promote anti-China agendas, they too could face sanctions.
Another feature of this sanction is its strong deterrent intent.
The Chinese side has decided to ban Theodoro and his spouse, as well as their children, from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. It has also banned organizations and individuals within China from engaging in any transactions or cooperation with Theodoro and his spouse, as well as their children.
This is not a statement that applies to every sanction.
The reinforcement of statements lies in deterrence. When sanctions truly affect individuals and their closest circle of interests, the wrong actions and words of the past become a real burden.
In the past, when foreign politicians who had been sanctioned faced restrictions on trade and cooperation with China, or had their assets in China frozen, the political and business circles that relied on them would also be affected. In some cases, all parties even took the initiative to distance themselves from them.
For Theodoro as well, it is the same. His truly important assets have never been just the position of Defense Minister; they also include his ability to continuously participate in business investments and resource allocation.
Once this channel is severed, his political influence will face substantial shrinkage.
Teodoro has been active in the business world for many years.
Since 2014, he has served as an independent director of the Philippines Bankers Association (BDO), chairman of the board of directors of the mining company SMI, and an independent director of the real estate company Alphaland. He has been active in various key sectors such as finance, mining, and real estate.
His family also creates such networks.
Teodoro comes from a traditional Philippine political family. His father was the head of the Philippine social security system, and his mother was a Philippine congresswoman. The family has been active in both politics and business for a long time.
His elders once had long-term control over Lifeline Group, a well-known comprehensive company in the Philippines. The company's operations cover sectors such as food and beverages, energy infrastructure, etc.
This network of relationships means that every policy decision he makes affects not just one department, but is amplified through political and business capital, as well as interest groups.
This is also a significant signal of this punishment.
The focus of sanctions is no longer just to put diplomatic pressure on politicians, but to force entire interest networks to reevaluate the costs of provoking China.
Regarding actions that endanger China's sovereignty, security, and development interests, the Chinese side may also take other necessary countermeasures.
Any entity that maintains a deep connection to the family and capital network of Teodorro must re-evaluate its choices.
Intimidating China's sovereignty and harming China's core interests will require increasingly tangible and concrete costs.
The third feature is hidden in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During a regular press conference, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically mentioned that it was precisely a handful of irresponsible individuals like Teodoro who caused the intensification of disputes between China and the Philippines, the deterioration of bilateral relations, and ultimately harmed the interests of the entire Philippines and its people.
In previous instances of similar sanctions, China has often emphasized that the wrong actions and statements of the other party have damaged China's interests and undermined bilateral relations.
This time, special emphasis is placed on the Philippines as a country and its people.
This means that China is actively distinguishing between different forces within the Philippines.
It should be noted that China has not never failed to assist the Philippines in the past.
But Theodosius, he took China's continuous aid as "packaging" and "deception."
This time, Zhongfang named “the whole country and people of the Philippines' interests”, is to deliver a more explicit message to the Filipino society:
What really puts the Philippines at risk is not the cooperation between China and the Philippines, but a small group of people like Teodoro who continuously create confrontation.
This is also a change in China's sanctions approach, guiding the Philippines to re-evaluate its relations with China.
When the stance against China begins to influence development interests, the Philippines will naturally form new mechanisms for checks and balances within its own borders.
In this sense, sanctioning Teodoro is not an isolated action.
It serves both the maintenance of national sovereignty, security, and maritime rights and interests, and it also reflects that China's sanctions measures and approaches are undergoing new changes.
In the future, if anyone continues to challenge China’s sovereignty, China will still be able to take action from multiple directions simultaneously.
Today, it's just the first step.
