China to PH: Stop shadow-chasing, peddling ‘Chinese spy’

China on Wednesday called out the Philippines for allegedly shadow-chasing and peddling the report on the supposed Chinese spy caught in Manila.

“The Chinese government, as always, asks Chinese nationals overseas to abide by local laws and regulations,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a press conference in Beijing.

“We hope the Philippines will stick to the fact, stop shadow-chasing, stop peddling the so-called ‘Chinese spy,’ and earnestly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the Philippines,” she added.

Mao made the statement when asked about the arrest of a Chinese national and two Filipinos suspected of conducting espionage operations in military bases, police camps, local government offices, among others.

GMA News Online reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment on the Chinese official's statement.

According to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday, the agency had obtained the records of the Chinese national who was arrested over alleged espionage activities in the Philippines.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the 39-year-old Chinese man has been travelling in and out of the Philippines since 2015 and is allegedly married to a Filipina.

The arrested suspects also visited Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites of the Philippines and the United States.

They collated data and transmitted these through a remote application on their equipment. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the data could be used for military purposes.

On Tuesday, the AFP said a “foreign power” seems to be mapping out the country after the recent incidents of supposed espionage, recovery of underwater drones, and fake identities of foreign nationals.

AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margeth Padilla said the Philippine military is “looking at the bigger picture” and “connecting the dots.”

Asked if China was behind these incidents, Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said: “I do not want to speculate on anything. We base our statements on facts.” —AOL, GMA Integrated News