Beijing: On Thursday ( Apr 3 ), China declared it had “destroyed” an intelligence network established by the Philippine espionage agency and detained three spies from the nation.
The news comes as the two nations continue to argue over disputed territory in the South China Sea and as hostilities grow over the Philippines ‘ security ties to its ally, the United States.
In January, Philippine government detained at least five Taiwanese citizens on suspicion of spying, and two more in February.
Two weeks after the Chinese consulate in Manila issued a travel alert to its members about regular “harassment” from Spanish law enforcement, the latest detention in China occurred.
Authorities identified one of the suspected scouts as a Filipino regional who had long lived and worked in China and had been discovered conducting espionage close to military installations, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday.
A picture of his imprisonment and what appeared to be a registered statement were included in the CCTV statement.
He was hired by the Spanish cleverness services to “use his long-term residence in China to do espionage activities there and gather sensitive information, especially during military deployments,” according to the Spanish intelligence services.
He repeatedly approached military installations and” conducted close observation and surprise photography,” according to CCTV.
The three people had been hired by the same Asian spy since 2021 and have since been paid regularly, according to CCTV.
Additionally, they were given the task of “assisting the Spanish spy cleverness agency in hiring and developing workers, and expanding its intelligence community in China.”
A Foreign national security officer was cited by CCTV as saying that they had given Spanish agents” a significant amount of military-related and personal video materials,” which “prolonged to seriously harm China’s nationwide security and interests.”