Chinese Embassy hits ‘unfounded’ claims vs student exchanges ---Gaea Katreena Cabico

Philstar.com Chinese students wait for the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou on April 7, 2023. AFP / Ludovic Marin MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Embassy on Thursday criticized the allegations related to the presence of Chinese students in Cagayan province, saying the claims fuel distrust and animosity toward Beijing. Reps. Joseph Lara (Cagayan) and Faustino Dy IV (Isabela) have filed separate resolutions to probe the alleged surge of Chinese nationals in the Cagayan Valley, noting their presence poses risk to the country’s national security. According to Lara, there are over 4,600 Chinese nationals studying and staying in Tuguegarao City. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy called the accusations against educational exchanges between Manila and Beijing “unfounded.” It said these claims were “yet another malicious sleight of hand to incite suspicion and hatred of China.” “Individual Philippine politicians are hyping up China-Philippines maritime issues and exaggerating the maritime differences in the name of national security to serve their political agenda and self-interest and undermine China-Philippines cooperation,” the embassy added. The embassy noted a supposed “resurrection” of McCarthyism—or the practice of publicly accusing people of disloyalty or subversion without much proof. “This deserves high vigilance and must be resolutely opposed,” it said. Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba clarified the presence of Chinese students in the province and other parts of the country stemmed from an agreement between the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Chinese learning institutions. Mamba stressed there is no connection between the presence of Chinese students and the maritime row between Manila and Beijing. Cagayan hosts two Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites: Naval Base Camilo Osias and Lal-lo Airport. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said the military would look into the reported surge of Chinese nationals and cooperate with the police. — Gaea Katreena Cabico

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more