Philippine security officials arrested a Chinese national on suspicion of espionage. During the arrest, they recovered equipment authorities believe could be used for spying on military facilities and police camps.
The suspect, identified as a software engineer named Deng Yuanqing, was presented to the media on Monday. The officials presented two other alleged Filipino cohorts in front of the media.
As per reports, Deng has affiliations with the Army Engineering University of PLA (People’s Liberation Army) based in the city of Nanjing in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.
Philippine National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago stated that the intelligence indicated that the suspect arrived in the country to conduct surveillance on crucial infrastructure and military installations.
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“We are just looking into the overall espionage effort of China,” authorities said during the press conference. We seized his vehicle, and mounted on it was an espionage equipment. It is possible that some of the collected information has already been transmitted to China,” they added.
This development comes amid escalating maritime confrontations between the Philippines and China over contested reefs and waters in the South China Sea. Recently, Beijing and Manila reportedly agreed on maintaining a provisional deal with the Philippines to resupply a remote outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal.
