BEIJING has called on the Philippine government to protect the “safety and legitimate rights and interests” of Chinese nationals in the country, as it rejected allegations of a hostile environment for Chinese-language teachers and other China-Philippines educational exchanges.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Ji Lingpeng made the demand in a statement Friday after reports that Chinese-language teachers working in the Philippines had decided to return to China amid concerns for their personal safety.
“We urge the Philippine side to ensure the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the Philippines are safeguarded,” Ji said.
The embassy strongly rejected what it called “baseless accusations” and “malicious smear campaigns” targeting educational and people-to-people exchanges between China and the Philippines, including Chinese-language education.
The statement came after reports linking the departure of Chinese-language teachers to criticism of China-related educational exchanges by retired US Air Force Col. Ray Powell and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
Ji did not provide details on the number of teachers who had allegedly left the Philippines or independently establish that their departures were caused by the alleged hostile atmosphere.
Instead, the embassy defended the role of Chinese-language teachers, saying they had for decades helped Filipinos understand the Chinese language and culture.
“Educational and people-to-people exchanges have long played an important role in promoting friendship between the two countries and fostering mutual understanding between the two peoples,” Ji said.
He said Chinese-language teachers from China had served as a “bridge between China and the Philippines.”
The embassy also took aim at unnamed individuals whom it accused of spreading “malicious rhetoric and actions” against China-Philippines people-to-people exchanges.
It said such rhetoric had “no place in the Philippines” and insisted that the “time-honored friendship” between the Chinese and Filipino peoples would continue.
The latest statement adds to a series of increasingly pointed exchanges between Beijing and Manila over the treatment of Chinese nationals in the Philippines.
In August, the Chinese Embassy likewise invoked its responsibility to protect the safety and legitimate rights of Chinese nationals following the arrest of Chinese workers at a steel plant in Misamis Oriental.
The Philippine defense establishment, however, accused Beijing of evasiveness after the embassy challenged the government’s account of the operation.
The latest embassy statement did not directly address whether any Chinese-language teachers had actually left the Philippines because of threats or harassment.
Instead, it placed the responsibility squarely on Manila to safeguard Chinese nationals while defending educational exchanges with China.
