According to Reuters news agency, four Chinese people arrested in the Philippines on espionage charges had donated money and cars to a locality and two police forces in the country.
Website of a Chinese community organization in the Philippines with pictures of two subjects Wang Yongyi and Cai Shaohuang (right)
Reuters reported on February 28 that four Chinese citizens accused of espionage by the Philippines had donated money to a city in the Philippines and two police forces in the country.
The information is based on images, videos and social media content collected by the news agency. The defendants, Wang Yongyi, Wu Junren, Cai Shaohuang and Chen Haitao, were among five Chinese men arrested by Philippine investigators in late January for allegedly collecting images and maps of Philippine naval forces stationed near the South China Sea.
Defendants Wang, Wu, and Cai donated to Tarlac City and the police force in 2022 through Chinese-backed groups and continued to invite officials to events last year. The reason for the donations is unclear.
Tarlac is home to major military bases, including one used by the Philippines and the United States for annual live-fire exercises. However, the NBI did not find any images of bases in the area on the phones of the group.
All five also met a Chinese military attaché in Manila at least once in the weeks before their arrest.
The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the five men operated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to spy on the Philippine Navy and images and maps of sensitive areas and vessels were found on their phones.
A senior NBI official said the men have been charged with espionage, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
According to Reuters, the four are leaders of Chinese civic groups. In a statement, China's Foreign Ministry said that the country requires its citizens to abide by local laws and that the civic groups were "spontaneously established and self-managed by relevant Chinese citizens... not directly affiliated with the Chinese government."
The Manila mayor’s office, whose police force received the motorcycles from the Chinese, said “the donation and the motorcycles were determined to be valid.” The Tarlac mayor and the two police forces involved did not respond to requests for comment.
The Philippines currently has no specific law on foreign interference but is drafting one. Under the guidelines, government agencies are allowed to accept donations but foreign contributions must be approved by the president.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ro-tin-4-gian-diep-trung-quoc-tung-quyen-gop-tien-xe-o-philippines-185250228201000733.htm
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