Maroc - EURASIAREVIEW.COM - A la une - 30/Jan 23:54

Philippines Arrests 5 Chinese Nationals For Suspected Espionage

By Camille Elemia and Gerard Carreon Filipino authorities announced the arrests of five more Chinese nationals suspected of spying on coast guard and navy installations, after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered to make a deal with China over U.S. missiles deployed in his country. The arrests brought to six the number of Chinese citizens taken into custody in the Philippines in recent days on suspicion of espionage amid heightened bilateral tensions in the South China Sea. The Philippine government paraded the five new suspects before the media’s cameras on Thursday – the same day that Marcos said he would have an American mid-range missile system removed from the Southeast Asian nation if Beijing agreed to stop intimidating Filipinos in contested waters. “Let’s make a deal with China: Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water-cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us, and stop your aggressive and coercive behavior, and I’ll return the Typhon missiles,” the Philippine leader Marcos told reporters in an interview in Cebu. “Once they stop what they are doing, I will return all of the missiles.” Over the past few months, rival territorial claimants Manila and Beijing have faced off in high-stakes confrontations in the South China Sea, a potentially mineral-rich waterway and crucial corridor for international shipping. The five Chinese nationals claimed to be tourists from Taiwan, according to Philippine authorities. They are believed to “have engaged in aerial reconnaissance via drone operations, collecting data from the Philippines’ naval assets, among others” in Palawan province, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in a statement. Palawan, a finger-shaped island, is on the frontline of Manila’s maritime dispute with Beijing. The Chinese nationals were allegedly working with Deng Yuanqing, another Chinese who was arrested earlier this month along with two supposed Filipino accomplices on similar charges, the NBI said. The bureau conducted an operation on Jan. 24 and 25, resulting in the arrest of the five other suspects. They were identified as Cai Shaohuang (also known as Richard Tan), Cheng Hai Tao (also known as Lestrade), Wu Cheng Ting (also known as Brawn), Wang Yong Yi (also known as Watson), and Wu Chin Ren. The NBI said they were all members of the civic groups Qiaoxing Volunteer Group of the Philippines and the Philippine-China Association of Promotion of Peace and Friendship, Inc. Both organizations did not provide immediate comment on the arrests of the five. Authorities said the suspects were “posing as buyers of marine products, roaming around the city, and surveying for stations selling the products.” “The group was seen frequenting Ulugan Bay, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, conducting aerial surveillance and reconnaissance, collecting imagery intelligence on the Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Barangay Bahile, which is part of the Philippine Navy’s Naval Forces West and is strategically positioned near the South China Sea,” the NBI said. Authorities seized the mobile devices of the Chinese nationals and allegedly found photos of a Philippine Coast Guard station and vessels, as well as the Buliluyan port in southern Palawan – the usual port for PCG vessels patrolling the South China Sea. Other images reportedly found on the phones were of the Philippine Navy’s warships, terrain maps overlooking Subic Bay International Airport, the Naval Operating Base (NOB) Subic in Zambales province, and a screenshot of a map identifying the NOB’s location. Subic Bay, located about 50 miles northwest of Manila on Luzon island, was the former site of a huge American naval base and it opens onto the South China Sea. The NBI said it also found footage of PCG vessels Teresa Magbanua – the Philippines’ largest coast guard ship – and Gabriela Silang docked in Manila. These are among the Philippine ships challenging Chinese vessels in the disputed waters. The Chinese Embassy in Manila has not yet commented on the latest arrests, but it previously denied the espionage allegations against Deng. “The so-called ‘espionage’ operation of a Chinese citizen in the Philippines is baseless speculation and accusation,” the embassy said in a statement on Jan. 25. Marcos on Typhon missile system Earlier on Thursday, Marcos spoke about the Typhon missile system, which the U.S. military deployed last year in the Philippine archipelago – a move that angered Beijing. Developed by American arms maker Lockheed Martin, the missile system has a range of 480 kilometers (300 miles) and can reach Scarborough Shoal – a South China Sea feature in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone under de facto Chinese control since 2012 – as well as targets around Taiwan. The Philippine Army has indicated its plans to acquire the Typhon system, which can fire the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk missiles, as well as support strike capabilities from land, sea and air. Last week, a report by Reuters said the U.S. military had moved its Typhon missile system from an airfield in Laoag in Ilocos Norte, Marcos’ hometown, to an undisclosed location elsewhere on Luzon. On Tuesday, Philippine Army spokesman Col. Louie Dema-alaconfirmed that Filipino soldiers would train with U.S. troops next month on the Typhon system. “I don’t understand their comments on the Typhon missile system – we don’t make any comments on their missile systems and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have. So, I don’t understand,” Marcos told reporters Thursday, referring to Chinese criticism of the presence of the American missiles on Philippine soil. Jeoffrey Maitem in Manila contributed to this report.