Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday that the Philippines has the right to allow the deployment of a US missile system in the country despite China’s continued opposition to it, Philippine media reported.
China's embassy in Manila said in a statement that Teodoro's remarks were "filled with ideological bias, factional confrontation, cold war mentality".
It urged Manila to quickly withdraw its deployment of the mid-range US Typhon missile system.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Teodoro said he was responding to a Chinese government spokesperson's opposition to the missile deployment, according to Philippine media.