It was only a mere two weeks ago when the National Bureau of Investigation, in coordination with agents from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), apprehended a Chinese national by the name of Deng Yuanqing along with two other Filipino cohorts for alleged spying. Now we learn that the NBI along with AFP have again arrested more Chinese nationals who are allegedly conducting spying activities inside the country and in various security and sensitive installations, such as naval facilities.
In a press conference held last January 30, authorities presented to media not one, or two but five Chinese nationals
who are alleged spies. What makes it more intriguing is the fact that according to the NBI the five alleged spies were
caught only after a “hot pursuit” operation was conducted in a span of two days in Palawan, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental. Five plus one makes six Chinese nationals who are
allegedly conducting espionage activities inside the country.
This is a very disturbing situation because if we have become aware that there are six Chinese nationals brought to ground after running around the country spying on us what about those we are not aware of? Even if the NBI and he AFP are mum on the number of Chinese nationals they are monitoring for possible spying activities we can make an educated guess that there are probably more than ten, twenty or even thirty of these Chinese nationals who have been let loose to spy on us.
China has no problem deploying hundreds of spies in the country since its’ active duty military personnel runs to about two million while the Philippines has only around one hundred forty thousand plus active duty military personnel. And even if we talk about China’s paramilitary force, or the so called military that is not part of a country’s official or legitimate armed forces, they have around six hundred and sixty thousand paramilitary personnel, a
gargantuan number compared to the Philippine’s sixty two thousand plus paramilitary personnel.
Losing six of their nationals to spying will certainly not make a dent in their intelligence apparatus. If the government has a way to further increase its vigilance against those conducting espionage activities against the country then by all means it must use these available means at the earliest opportunity to deter and prevent these “spies” from discovering and exploiting our vulnerabilities in defense and security.
Our country is quite small in size when compared to the behemoth China but we are right now the laser like focus of attention of this awakened dragon which plans to dominate and expand its influence and territory in South East Asia as well as make good its promise to eventually invade Taiwan or officially called the Republic of China (ROC) which it considers its province. The spying activities of China being conducted against the Philippines is a way to gain information and knowledge about what the country is doing to bolster its defense and enhance its territorial security in conjunction with its allies particularly the United States.
China needs to know this in order to better prepare itself for any eventuality. And because China is doing this perhaps the Philippines should also do the same if only to also protect its own sovereignty and interests in the region. Now in the tit-for-tat world of espionage China will surely have the advantage over the Philippines in terms of
experience, manpower and technology. But the Philippines is not alone. For the better part of four years the country has rushed to establish defense agreements with other states to bolster its external security.
Apart from the United States the Philippines has signed defense cooperation agreements with Australia and Japan. A strategic partnership has also been announced between India and the Philippines through a defense equipment
collaboration. So while it is troubling to learn that there are Chinese spies in the country we are also comforted by the fact that we know about them only because the country also has a very active and robust intelligence system capable of thwarting their espionage activities.
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