China denies using Pinoys for spying

March 7, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese embassy in Manila denied allegations yesterday that China has been tapping Filipinos for its espionage activities in the Philippines, which the National Security Council (NSC) earlier said has resulted in the arrest of at least three Filipinos. 

Embassy spokesman Ji Lingpeng described such accusations as lies and fabrications while giving assurance that China does not meddle in the internal affairs of other nations.

“We firmly oppose and strongly deplore irresponsible remarks made by certain Philippine agencies peddling so-called ‘Chinese spy’ narratives. China follows the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. Such accusations are malicious smears against China and yet another attempt to hype up the so-called ‘China threat’ rhetoric,” he said.

Ji countered that the Philippines has been fabricating “a series of so-called ‘Chinese spy’ cases based on far-fetched allegations. This is a typical act of ill-intentioned association and politically motivated presumption of guilt in the absence of detailed information on the case and clear evidence. We firmly reject such practices.”

He ciyed a recent case involving a Mongolian national who was arrested over “suspected affiliation to China” only for it to be later clarified that the individual had no affiliation with China whatsoever.

“This fully demonstrates that rushing to judgment before the facts are fully ascertained is fundamentally flawed and runs counter to the basic principles of objectivity and fairness,” Ji argued.

“Mutual respect is the foundation of China-Philippines relations. If certain individuals or agencies in the Philippines persist in hyping up anti-China sentiments and recklessly targeting anything related to China, it will only undermine the atmosphere of cooperation and ultimately backfire,” Ji said.

The NSC on Wednesday revealed that a multi-agency initiative dubbed the Insider Threat Program has uncovered “a serious national security matter” wherein Filipinos are being used by China to conduct espionage operations in the country.

“The operations of these individuals acting on the behest of Chinese intelligence have been addressed and terminated,” NSC spokesman Cornelio Valencia Jr. said.

According to Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, the Chinese spy fed China information about resupply missions of the PCG over the years in the WPS. However, he clarified yesterday the spy was only a personality close to a PCG personnel and was not among their ranks.

Tarriela said the informant likely enabled the Chinese coast guard to detect in advance the operations of the PCG in the area.

PCG reported signal disruptions and aggressive radio challenges to passing Philippine fisheries and coast guard vessels in WPS in the more recent resupply missions.

“I think this incident basically proved that the Chinese government is really doing all possible actions to undermine our national security and also to weaken our position, especially when it comes to our operations in the West Philippine Sea,” Tarriela said in a chance interview.

Despite the reported involvement of some uniformed personnel in Chinese espionage operations, the Armed Forces of the Philippines does not see a need to conduct loyalty checks.

The military, while refusing to reveal more information about the matter for national security reasons, gave assurance that it has enough safeguards to detect and counter such spying activities.

AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the individuals involved, reportedly from the Department of National Defense, Philippine Navy and PCG, “are cooperating with investigators and the matter is being addressed through lawful processes.”

To protect their units from being infiltrated by foreign spies, the Philippine National Police has beefed up counterintelligence measures to prevent espionage within its ranks. — Andrew Ronquillo, Emmanuel Tupas