MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense slammed yesterday China for evasiveness and deception in its response to DND Secretary Gilberto Teodoro’s statement on the arrest of Chinese workers at a steel plant in Mindanao, and Chinese embassy officials who intervened in local law enforcement processes.
The Chinese embassy said Teodoro’s remarks are completely unfounded, and confuse the facts on the arrest of 70 Chinese workers during a raid at Sanjia Steel plant in Tagaoan, Misamis Oriental in May.
Arsenio Andolong, DND spokesperson, said in a statement, “the Chinese embassy’s response does not contain any answers.”
“Instead, it is full of questions and rhetoric. This is a classic example of evasiveness and a badge of deception,” Andolong added.
“This is, in legal practice, an implied admission of culpability,” he said.
Teodoro accused China of using a “squid tactic” to evade questions over Chinese nationals arrested, and threatening retaliation against Filipinos to pressure the Philippines over its law enforcement operations against Chinese nationals.
The defense chief said the actions against 100 Filipinos arrested in China, allegedly for violating immigration laws, are “simple extortion and blackmail.”
Andolong said the Chinese embassy “cannot hide behind their disingenuous misinformation.”
In a statement, Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said that Philippine national prosecution authorities had resolved the complaints against the Chinese workers.
He cited a resolution that all complaints of violation should be referred for further investigation, and that all 70 Chinese nationals were ordered to be released.
Teodoro accused Chinese embassy officials of actively intervening in local law enforcement processes.
“Anyone with a basic understanding of diplomacy knows that a fundamental responsibility of an embassy is to protect the safety and legitimate rights and interests of its nationals from infringement,” Ji said.
Teodoro said China continues to evade the crucial issues surrounding the matter by going after Filipino nationals in China.