China respects Phl decision not to send representatives to Nobel awarding rites

MANILA, Philippines - China respects the Philippines’ decision not to send representatives to the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo last Dec. 10.

The Philippines and 18 other countries joined China in boycotting the ceremony to protest the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo.

President Aquino had earlier said that the Philippines chose not to attend the ceremony “in the national interest,” alluding to the cases of several Filipinos facing the death sentence in China for drug trafficking.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao yesterday said the Philippines’ boycott of the ceremony is not meant to curry favor with China to spare the lives of those Filipinos sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

Two Filipinos were sentenced to death with finality while five are still appealing their cases.

“Everything will be done in strict accordance with the law,” Liu said in a media forum.

“The decision was made by the Philippine government with regard to the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, but I do not see any linkage between this decision with the five (cases),” he added. 

He said that China’s position on drug cases remains unchanged.

“And you know we take very serious the information of possible death penalty of drug traffickers and also of all kinds of death sentences. The Supreme Court of China will examine the case very, very carefully and also we will keep the diplomatic mission and consulate general of the Philippines in China informed about the development,” he said.

Liu said the Chinese government has not received a request from the United Nations or certain groups to save the Filipino convicts from the death penalty.

“We have not received any request from the UN or certain groups but actually we have received the request from the Philippine government for possible relaxation of the sentence of the criminals, and certainly we will take that into consideration,” he said.

Chinese courts, he said, handles each case independently and in strict accordance with the law. 

For the first time since 1936, no one was present to accept the prize because China had barred Liu and his family members from traveling to Oslo for the awarding ceremony.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the People’s Supreme Court of China has not yet handed down the decision on the five Filipino convicts. The two cases, however, will no longer be reviewed.

DFA spokesperson Eduardo Malaya said Chinese officials informed the Philippine embassy in Beijing yesterday that there are no new developments on the cases.

There are speculations that the imposition of the death sentence on the two convicts is a backlash for the deaths of eight Hong Kong nationals in the Aug. 23 hostage taking at the Luneta Grandstand, but DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos said the decision on the two Filipinos was handed down long before the bus hijack happened.

One of the five Filipino convicts in China has the most serious case, having been found in possession of 4,110 grams of heroin.

He said the Philippines continues to try to save the Filipino convicts through high-level intercession.

Sources said three of the five convicts can still escape execution if they identify the members of the drug syndicate that recruited them.

One had provided information about the syndicate but Chinese authorities said the statement was not enough.

The DFA earlier said 112 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are involved in active death penalty cases, most of which are drug-related offenses in China. Of these, 16 were charged with multiple murder/murder, murder with robbery, blasphemy and involvement in illegal drugs.

The DFA said 76 Filipinos in China have been convicted for drug trafficking.

Under Chinese laws, the trafficking of drugs weighing 50 grams or more is punishable by 15 years imprisonment or death.  

Conejos said a drug mule is offered $3,000 to $4,000 to carry illegal drugs.

There are now 302 drug-related cases in Asia involving Filipinos, mostly females lured into drug trade by international syndicates.

Most of the cases are in China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia (17); more females are involved than males.