Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. isn’t mincing words when it comes to recent accusations by Beijing.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Mandaluyong City, Teodoro made it clear: if there’s anyone to blame for the rising anti-China sentiment, it’s the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), not the Philippine government.

“We shouldn’t drag the Chinese people into this,” Teodoro said in Filipino. “This is about the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party. They’ve destroyed the goodwill and trust that people around the world — including here — might have had for China. And they’ve done it all just to stay in power.”

Teodoro was responding to claims by Chinese officials that the Philippines was stoking Sinophobia — hostility or prejudice toward China and its people.

“If anything, the CCP and President Xi Jinping are the ones fueling Sinophobia — not just globally, but even among their own people,” he said. “The way their government behaves, it breeds distrust.”

Teodoro didn’t hold back, slamming the Chinese government for what he described as its repressive, power-driven politics.

“They’re communists, Leninists — that’s how their dictatorship works,” he said. “Power is what matters most to them.”

Without hesitation, he laid the blame squarely on Beijing’s doorstep: “They are the main cause of Sinophobia.”

He also pointed to China’s National Intelligence Law, enacted in 2017, which requires all Chinese citizens to support the country’s intelligence efforts. “Basically, every Chinese national can be tapped as an agent. I mean they nailed themselves to the cross with that one,” Teodoro said.

His comments came after the Chinese embassy in Manila released a strongly worded statement claiming that Chinese citizens and businesses in the Philippines were being “frequently interrogated and harassed” by authorities.

The embassy warned of growing security risks and urged Chinese nationals in the country to be on high alert and step up their emergency preparedness.

That warning followed the arrest of several Chinese nationals suspected of espionage near military installations in the Philippines.

Some analysts have raised concerns that the crackdown on suspected spies and recent restrictions on offshore gaming operations could be fanning anti-China sentiments in the country.

But Teodoro has repeatedly pushed back on that idea.

Earlier this month, he called for tougher espionage laws in the Philippines, emphasizing that acts of spying — even during peacetime — must carry serious consequences.