The Philippines’ National Security Council challenged Beijing’s claims, stating the three were former awardees of a government scholarship programme established under an agreement between the southern Chinese province of Hainan and the western Philippine province of Palawan.
“They are ordinary Filipino citizens with no military training who merely went to China at the invitation of the Chinese government to study,” National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.
“They are law-abiding citizens with no criminal records and were vetted and screened by the Chinese government prior to their arrival there,” he added.
Citizens Vetted by China Prior to Arrival
The Philippine National Security Council challenged Beijing’s claims that the three were former recipients of a government scholarship programme established through an agreement between the Hainan province in southern China and the Palawan province in the west of the Philippines.
“They are ordinary Filipino citizens with no military training who merely went to China at the invitation of the Chinese government to study,” National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.
“They are law-abiding citizens with no criminal records and were vetted and screened by the Chinese government prior to their arrival there,” he added.
No Immediate Comment from Chinese Embassy
The Chinese embassy in Manila was not immediately available for comment after office hours. Hainan and Palawan are both situated in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway in which the two nations have laid overlapping claims and have had numerous confrontations in the past two years.
Arrests Seen as Retaliation
“The arrests can be seen as a retaliation for the series of legitimate arrests of Chinese agents and accomplices by Philippine law enforcement,” Malaya said.
At least a dozen Chinese nationals have been arrested by Philippine authorities in the past three months on suspicion of spying, with accusations of having obtained sensitive.
China has large claims in the South China Sea that overlap with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam’s exclusive economic zones. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal decided that China’s claims are not based on international law, but Beijing does not accept that decision.
