Fil-Chinese sending kids to school in China

XIAMEN, China – Fearful of the resurgence of kidnap-for-ransom incidents in the Philippines, several prominent Filipino-Chinese families have sent their children to study here.

This was disclosed by Dr. Li Yi Ping of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Xiamen University in Fujian province, who said that although only temporarily, Filipino-Chinese families have started sending their children to China for schooling.

"They send their children (to Xiamen) to study and they will return when the situation improves," Li said.

He said from 1997 to 1998, from 40 to 50 elementary and high school students were sent to Fujian province from the Philippines.

The center conducts research on ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, where there are some three million Chinese nationals, 80 percent of whom trace their roots to Fujian.

Li said Fujian is a natural destination for ethnic Chinese because of their links with families here.

Filipino-Chinese families are favorite targets of kidnap-for-ransom syndicates in the Philippines because the victims’ families often choose to pay ransom ra-ther than report the abductions to the police.

Li’s findings were confirmed by the Filipino-owned Manila-Xiamen International School, which last year admitted four Filipino-Chinese students.

"We have accepted four Filipino-Chinese students following the kidnappings. Their parents feared their kids would become the next victims," said the school’s deputy administrator Celso Jalac.

He said in 1995, a similar influx of Filipino-Chinese nationals occurred. He said one of the students was admitted shortly after he was released by his kidnappers.

The Chinese foreign affairs ministry on Thursday issued a travel advisory warning their nationals of the risks of going to the Philippines and asking them to be more careful while traveling in the country.

"China is not preventing their nationals from going to the Philippines but it advised them to take extra caution," Philippine Consul General in Xiamen Ma. Corazon Yap-Bahjin told visiting journalists from Manila.

Unlike in the Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai embassies, the Philippine consulate is receiving only 20 to 50 visa applications daily.

China’s concern over the string of abductions in the Philippines was fanned by the kidnapping of a Chinese engineer in North Cotabato last June 20.

Foreign ministry director general for the Asian department and former ambassador to the Philippines Fu Ying said they have already identified the four alleged abductors of the Chinese engineer.

"However, I cannot divulge the name of the group behind the kidnapping," Fu said.

Fu said her government is working closely with Philippine authorities in resolving the abduction as she urged the latter to exert more effort to free the Chinese hostage.

Earlier, the Chinese Association for International Understanding (CAFIU), a United Nations-registered organization, expressed concern over the spate of kidnappings, especially those instigated by the dreaded Abu Sayyaf group.

CAFIU, which maintains ties with various private organizations in over 200 countries, also conducts research on international studies for the ruling Communist Party of China.