Chinese, two Filipinos arrested for allegedly conducting espionage
By Robina Asido
Philippine authorities arrested a Chinese national and two Filipinos for allegedly conducting espionage activities targeting critical military infrastructure in the country.
The Chinese "spy" identified as Deng Yuanqing, who is reportedly a graduate of a university controlled and operated by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), was arrested inside a vehicle driven by his Filipino companions named as Ronnel Jojo Balundo Besa and Jayson Amado Fernandez.
They were presented by the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a joint press conference on Monday.
NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Jeremy Lotoc said the suspects were arrested after they failed to present a permit or license or authority to conduct a survey.
“When we caught him, we asked him if he was a licensed surveyor, or if he represented a research institution, or if he was from a private company, or if he was a military or law enforcer but he failed to show any permit or any license or authority,” he said.
Lotoc said based on open source, with assistance from Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) the apprehended Chinese national is a graduate of a university controlled and operated by the PLA who is a specialist in control engineering.
Authorities recovered lidar sensor and information and communication technology (ICT) equipment that can transmit real time information outside the country.
"We found out that they have a lidar sensor which is capable of creating a 3D image of a target structure. They have this GNSS RTK Global Navigation Satellite System real time kinematics. It is being used for mapping navigation, artillery, and guided missiles, logistics, and supply chain for military operations," said Lotoc.
He also noted that based on the GPS tracker installed to monitor the suspects, the areas they frequented include "critical infrastructures, specifically military camps, bases, power plants, local government unit (LGU) offices, police camps and stations, even shopping malls."
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. also noted that the arrested Chinese spy also went to sites under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States.
"Some of the areas that this group went to are EDCA sites, so it's very possible that the coordinates and the topography could be used for military purposes, military targeting purposes," he said.
Brawner noted that it is the second time that the authorities arrested a Chinese spy as the same equipment was recovered from a Chinese national also apprehended in Makati in previous year.
"We believe the espionage operations of China even prior to the apprehension or capture of the equipment last year but we saw that just recently very recently the use of these equipment, they use new technology that is why we also focus here," he said.
Lontoc said based on initial investigation the arrested Chinese spy has been staying in the country for around five years.
"They have a map where they are planning to go, after they finish visiting Luzon. They are targeting the entire Visayas and Mindanao. So we did not wait for them to reach Visayas, we arrested them through an interdiction operation," he said.
"As of the moment we established that they are engaged in ISR operations meaning Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance operations to the prejudice of our national defense considering that their targets are mostly critical infrastructure related to our national security," he added.
Lotoc said the authorities are also looking into possible connection of the arrested Chinese spy to any organization to determine if it is a state sponsored or related to organized crime group. DMS
