2025 China–Philippine espionage cases

On January 17, 2025, Philippine law enforcement agents arrested Chinese national Deng Yuanqing along with two Filipinos under suspicions of spying for the People's Republic of China. His group was accused of mapping critical infrastructure in the Philippines including military bases which the United States has access to. Eleven more Chinese nationals were arrested.
China has also arrested three Filipinos who are formerly scholars of Hainan Normal University for suspected espionage.
During the Senate inquiries about Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) in 2024, it was alleged that Chinese spies has taken advantage the proliferation of POGOs during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. National Intelligence Coordinating Agency deputy director general Francisco Acedillo says that a Chinese spy network has long established itself in the economic and political landscape of the Philippines.
The most notable case prior the January 2025 spy arrests was that of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo who allegedly have links to the raided POGO hub in her town and was named as a Chinese spy by Thailand-detained self-confessed agent She Zhijiang. POGOs were banned by the end of 2024.
The two countries are also involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The United States presence in the Philippines through access to Philippine military bases via the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement is seen as an affront to Chinese interest.
Deng Yuanqing (Chinese: 鄧元慶) is a software engineer who is a resident of the Philippines who was arrested and accused of espionage.
According to Philippine Bureau of Immigration, Deng is married to a Filipino woman and has been travelling in and out of the Philippines since 2013. He is a businessman and a holder of a permanent residence visa due to his marriage. Furthermore, Filipino investigators allege that Deng is affiliated with the People's Liberation Army University of Science and Technology (now the Army Engineering University of the PLA since 2017) in Nanjing, China. Deng's alleged entry at ScholarGPS was cited for this claim.
Deng also has a sister, who says he is merely a labor contractor for a driving technology company working on a road-testing project in the Philippines. His wife says his job involves road surveying for self-driving car technology. NBI director Jaime Santiago questions why the specific name of the company cannot be disclosed.
Some of the arrested Chinese nationals have been living in the Philippines as early as 2003. Three of them are noted to be married to Filipinos.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) became suspicious of a group led by Deng. They suspected that his group was conducting surveillance on critical infrastructure, including military installations. The NBI with assistance from the Armed Forces of the Philippines conducted the arrest of Deng and two suspected Filipino accomplice in a condominium in Makati, Metro Manila on January 17, 2025. Authorities also confiscated a Toyota RAV4 equipped with a GNSS RTK Global Navigation Satellite System and data transmission tools. The detained were presented to the media on January 20, 2025.
The three are facing charges under Section 1(a) and 2(a) of the Commonwealth Act 616 (Espionage Act of 1941), in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. Deng plead "not guilty" to the charges.
AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr. alleged that Deng's group was visiting military bases the Philippines granted access to the United States under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
National Security Council has urged the Congress for the passage of a bill amending the Espionage Act of 1941 to cover more espionage acts during times of peace following Deng's arrest.
Chinese Filipino civic leader Teresita Ang See was skeptical on about the accusation and insist its an "iffy conclusion" that Deng was committing espionage just because he has "road surveying instruments in his car". She dismissed accusations and speculations against Deng as "conspiracy theories" that only serves to stir tensions on Philippines-China relations. She called for a fair probe on Deng. NBI director Jaime Santiago disputes Ang-See's position that the devices confiscated are commercial-grade purchasable online. He insist the equipment are military grade including a Light Detection and Ranging device
The NBI arrest five more suspected Chinese spies from January 24 to 25. They are Cai Shaohuang, Wang Yong Yi, Wu Jun Ren, and Wu Chengting. The five are allegedly working with Deng.
Some of them were posing as Taiwanese tourists in Palawan. They were identified as members of the Qiaoxing Volunteer Group of the Philippines and the Philippine China Association of Promotion of Peace and Friendship.
President Bongbong Marcos issued a statement of concern that the Chinese could have been utilizing sleeper agents against the country.
On March 19, six Chinese nationals and a Filipino serving as bodyguard were arrested at Grande Island. Philippine authorities stated they are posing as recreational fishers but has been using drones to document American and Philippine naval assets in the area.
The suspects are believed by Philippine authorities to be conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. This includes taking photos and videos of Philippine Coast Guard stations, naval vessels and docks, and high-resolution images of Philippine Navy ships Activities has been monitored as early as 2023.
The embassy of China in Manila maintains that the Chinese government always advises its citizens to abide by local laws and regulations. It condemned the characterization of Deng as a "Chinese spy" and urged the Philippine government to "stick to the facts, stop shadow-chasing" and protect the interests and welfare of Chinese nationals in the Philippines.
Figures in the Chinese Filipino community has cautioned against sensationalizing the espionage cases while recognizing the incidents shouldn't be downplayed. There are concerns that it may affect tourism from China and may stow Sinophobia.
Three Filipinos, three male and one female, all who hail from Palawan were arrested by China for suspicion of espionage. They were beneficiaries of a scholarship program which is a result of a sisterhood agreement between Palawan and the Chinese province of Hainan. Under the 2017 agreement sent 50 Filipino Palaweños to the Hainan Normal University from 2018 to 2022. The three Filipinos have finished their studies and went home to the Philippines but returned back to China to work receiving job offers from their friends in Hainan.
The Palawan provincial government has been looking into the case since October 2024. One of the three lost contact with their kin in that month and the other two has not been heard of by their relatives in January 2025.
Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast the confession of the three Filipinos in April 2025. It alleged that the three has been spying for the Philippines since 2021 and receiving monthly payments to gather information on China's military installations. A "Richie Herrera" working for the Philippine intelligence service was the alleged handler of the detained.
In response the National Security Council (NSC) of the Philippines issued a statement that the arrests is a retaliation for the detention of Chinese nationals by Filipino authorities. It has insisted that the three Filipinos are "ordinary Filipino citizens with no military training". It has expressed skepticism on the confession video noting that the "Philippine Intelligence Agency" or "Philippine Spy Intelligence Services" are non-existing agencies. The NSC believes that the confession might have been coerced or scripted.