The Philippines has given assurances that it has no Filipino spies in China and that its compatriots are only there to work under legitimate Chinese visas.
The remarks were made after the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jinhua reportedly said that overseas Filipino workers in China could be accused of spying just as much as Chinese workers in Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs near military camps.
However, the Philippine official said that there are no Filipino spies in China and that they do not have to worry because the Filipinos are only in China to work.
There are hundreds of thousands of Philippine residents living across the greater China region, with approximately 33,000 in Macau, according to official data.
Meanwhile, there are thought to be at least 130,000 Chinese nationals working for POGOs in the Philippines.
The Philippines’ presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the ambassador sent him a text message saying, “what if we also think that your overseas workers are also spying on us. What can you say about that?”
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana lashed out at the Chinese ambassador, saying that such remarks were a “preposterous statement.”
“They are more like Chinese nationals working in construction projects here in the Philippines, as mutually agreed upon by both countries. There are no POGO-like centers in China that can be operated purely by Filipinos near Chinese military camps,” he said.
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