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Sam Beltran

Five more Chinese nationals accused of espionage have been arrested in the Philippines, fuelling concerns that foreign spy networks are “deeply entrenched” in the country.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Thursday the five were taken into custody for allegedly conducting surveillance on a Philippine coastguard (PCG) ship in Palawan, which is strategically close to maritime flashpoints such as the Spratly Islands.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Friday said he was “very disturbed” by the arrests.
“We are very disturbed by anyone conducting such espionage operations against our military,” Marcos Jnr told reporters.
The arrests come just over a week after authorities presented another Chinese national arrested on suspicion of espionage, Deng Yuanqing, to the public.
Officials said the five men had posed as Taiwanese tourists, installing high-resolution, solar-powered cameras at a seaside resort to monitor PCG and Philippine Navy movements near the strategically located Spratly Islands.
NBI director Jaime Santiago said the cameras were directed towards the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s term for the South China Sea that lies within its exclusive economic zone.


He added that these surveillance activities might explain how China coastguard vessels had anticipated the arrival of PCG ships for rotation and resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded warship stationed in the Second Thomas Shoal that serves as a Philippine outpost.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Romeo Brawner Jnr said he believed such missions could have been compromised since early 2023.
National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya said on Wednesday there would be “more arrests to come” after announcing the initial arrest of two of the suspects in Palawan.
He also said the country had ramped up its counter-intelligence efforts, allowing them to “slowly [unravel] the conspiracy, this operation that [was] being done by foreign actors to conduct espionage in the Philippines”.
Investigators linked the five new suspects to Deng, who was apprehended on January 17 for allegedly surveilling police and military facilities alongside two Filipino accomplices.
Authorities said the individuals were found with data-gathering equipment capable of sending coordinates and topographic details, potentially useful for drone operations or precise targeting.
Santiago said they had acted on intelligence they received about Deng and his group in December, which indicated they planned to conduct surveillance on critical structures such as military bases and police camps.
Authorities claim Deng was affiliated with the Army Engineering University of PLA (People’s Liberation Army), a military university based in Nanjing, China.

At a press briefing, cybercrime chief Jeremy Lotoc said that Deng could have been in the Philippines for about five years based on his passport and dubbed him a “sleeper agent” due to his group’s visits to strategic sites under the Philippines’ Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States, as well as airports, seaports, power facilities and shopping centres.
However, Deng’s sister reportedly claimed that the alleged espionage instruments found in his vehicle were “ordinary surveying instruments” assigned to him by his company.
Deng’s Filipino wife also said at a press conference on Tuesday that her husband had been in the Philippines for 10 years and frequently travelled in and out of the country.
“We have an eight-year-old child. I am worried about what will happen to our child at school because of reports in the media that claim he is a spy,” she told local reporters.
The Chinese embassy in Manila also denied the allegations against Deng, calling them “baseless speculation” in a statement released on Saturday. It has not yet released a statement regarding the latest arrests.
Security analysts said these arrests showed that suspected spy networks could have been operating under the radar for years.
Sherwin Oña, an international fellow at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research in Taiwan, said that malign actors operating in the Philippines “have uncovered the weaknesses of our civil and administrative processes. Thus, they have probably established a robust local network”.
Joshua Espeña, a lecturer of international relations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, told This Week in Asia that he suspected that “Chinese espionage activities are deeply entrenched financially and politically to make its operations at such a normal pace”.
He added that this indicated the Philippines’ critical geostrategic importance was turning it into a centre of “espionage drama” in the same way Berlin had become “a hotbed of spies during the Cold War”.
However, Espeña cautioned Philippine authorities against publicising the arrests of these alleged spies, adding that there would be a “trade-off” in its strategy.

“We have to remember that no spy would ever admit one’s identity, lest [it] defeat the purpose of spycraft. So, publicising them and making them admit that they are spies before the camera is counterproductive,” he said.
“But I understand that Manila is trying to build a public consensus that spies are now a geopolitical reality they must face.”
He also noted that intelligence collection might blend covert and overt methods “for the sake of acquiring ‘signals’ needed by their handlers and political bosses”.
For Manila to ramp up its counter-intelligence efforts, Espeña said its local intelligence communities needed to review relevant guidelines and determine whether “they all share the same guidance from the top”.
“I suspect that different intelligence communities, one from the [National Intelligence Coordinating Agency] and as well as intelligence services of the military and uniformed personnel, have differing priorities,” he told This Week in Asia.
Oña suggested that local governments hosting EDCA sites and vital military facilities train closely with national authorities to improve visitor tracking and information sharing.
He also said that moves to pass a new espionage law, enhance the country’s cyber defence capabilities, and better coordinate with allies would all be “significant steps in the right direction”.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner (front right), National Bureau of Investigation chief Jaime Santiago (front centre) and undersecretary of the Department of Justice Raul Vasquez (front left) announce the arrest of five alleged Chinese spies. Photo: AFP

A Chinese national, Deng Yuanqing, and two Filipinos were arrested for allegedly conducting surveillance operations on military camps and other vital installations in the Philippines. Photo EPA-EFE

Chinese national Deng Yuanqing (in blue shirt) with his two unidentified Filipino companion in handcuffs are escorted inside the Department of Justice office in Manila, the Philippines, on January 20. Photo: EPA-EFE

Philippines’ arrest of Chinese ‘sleeper agent’ sparks fears of widespread spying

Chinese national Deng Yuanqing (middle) with an unidentified Filipino companion in handcuffs escorted to the Department of Justice office in Manila on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Chinese national Deng Yuanqing (in blue shirt) with his two Filipino companions under security escort in Manila on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A vehicle used by Chinese “sleeper agent” Deng Yuanqing presented at a press conference in Manila on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Philippine officials say there seems to be a “deliberate and calculated move to map out the country by a foreign power”. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese national Deng Yuanqing (centre, top) with his two unidentified Filipino companions in handcuffs are escorted inside the Department of Justice office in Manila on January 20. Photo: EPA-EFE

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US Army soldiers conduct inaugural Tomahawk Land Attack Missile launch from the Mid-Range Capability (aka Typhon) launcher at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California in June 2023: Photo: US Army

American and Filipino soldiers fire an ATMOS 155mm Howitzer during as part of US-Philippines army-to-army joint drills on April 26, 2024, in Laur, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr attending the closing ceremony of the 44th and 45th Asean Summits in Vientiane, Laos on October 11. Photo: Reuters 

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, (left)) accompanied by a US soldier inspects a high mobility artillery rocket system on April 26, 2023. Photo: AFP

US and Filipino soldiers fire howitzers during a live firing exercise in the Philippines, in May 2024. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem

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US soldiers prepare for the Balikatan joint military drill between American and Philippine troops, in Palawan, Philippines on May 1, 2024. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem

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A member of the Philippine coastguard holds national flags to welcome a Chinese naval training ship on a goodwill visit to Manila in 2023. Photo: AP

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A Chinese coastguard ship sails some 60 nautical miles (111km) off the main Philippine island of Luzon on January 11. Photo: Handout / Philippine Coast Guard / AFP

This Week in Asia

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The arrests follow the detention of another Chinese national accused of spying on military and police facilities


The arrests follow the detention of another Chinese national accused of spying on military and police facilities.


China-Philippines relations

Espionage

Taiwan