CHINESE PARANOIA

June 8, 2024 Opinion

More and more these days the public is being entertained with news and reports seemingly involving Chinese individuals and personalities that are, for one reason or another, being implicated in activities deemed against the
law. The more spectacular of these incidents having Chinese involvement appears to be that of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her alleged role in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) industry. Mayor Guo is already the subject of a Senate investigation when her name cropped up during two raids conducted by authorities against POGO operators Hong Sheng Gaming Technology and Zun Yuan Technology.

These POGO operators were then leasing a compound in Bamban in the name of Baofu Corporation and which
company, as bared during the Senate investigation, is formerly and partly owned by Mayor Guo. It is already being insinuated that the mayor may have played a big part in allowing the operation of POGO in Bamban and there are
even allegations that she is not actually a Filipino citizen but a Chinese national planted by the powers that be in Beijing, China to infiltrate local politics and thereby expand Chinese influence in that sector.

But whatever the reason, there are enough grounds to initiate a formal investigation, not by the Senate but by law
enforcement authorities and other concerned agencies to finally determine once and for all whether Mayor Guo is
directly or indirectly involved in POGO operations within her territorial jurisdiction in Tarlac, and to find out whether she is indeed a Filipino citizen and therefore qualified to run, and obviously remain, in public office. On the other hand, at the moment and after several inquiries in aid of legislation conducted by the Senate there is still no sufficient proof to show that Mayor Guo is an instrument of the Chinese government to infiltrate and exploit local politics in the country.

The more convincing scenario is that the lady mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is a puppet of illegal gambling syndicates in China who wanted to make sure that their POGO operations are well protected and beyond the prying eyes of the law. On the other end of the spectrum, and of a more ominous development, we have that latest incident where a Chinese guy by the name of Yuhang Liu was arrested on May 29, 2024 in Makati by police authorities for having in his possession an unlicensed firearm and several alleged hacking devices, which according to authorities may have
been intended for ‘spying’ and hacking activities. Mr. Liu might not have been caught if it were not for an unnamed
individual who supposedly placed a distress call to the police that Liu allegedly threatened and coerced him to go to vital installations and other public places in order to hack or access mobile phones’ international mobile equipment
identity and other electronic devices.

So apparently the Chinese guy cannot do the hacking alone and so he had to find someone else to do it for him. But in a follow-up operation after his arrest police discovered in his unit at Marina Seaview Residence, Paranaque City
several other equipment that authorities suspect might be used for not only hacking but also for spying. The confiscated equipment include an inverter unit, an aerial drone, a keyboard, a CPU, and a portable power station. Now taken along with the other equipment confiscated from his person which includes a laptop, a tablet, a router, a radio receiver or transmitter, a solar inverter, a unit antenna system multi-band directional, as well as a gun and several mobile phones then the possibility that Mr. Liu is on a spying and hacking mission inside the country gains traction.

Of course, that would be for our authorities to find out whether Mr. Liu is a spy and hacker or not, and as this column was being written a report came out that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has already started a probe on this Chinese guy arrested for owning suspected hacking tools. Finally, and to drive home the point that China is somehow conducting or orchestrating nefarious and illegal activities against the Philippines there is this
report in February that hackers operating in China have attempted but failed to break into websites and e-mail systems of the President of the Philippines as well as other government agencies. The unsuccessful operation was revealed by Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Spokesperson Renato Paraiso in a radio interview