Manila to tighten visa rules for Beijing
Move likely to spark backlash from China amid rising maritime tensions
A move by the Philippines to tighten visa issuance for Chinese nationals is expected to spark retaliatory action from Beijing, as both nations lock horns over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and a surge in Chinese residents in Cagayan province.
Analysts warn the immigration policy should not be seen as Sinophobic as Manila had the right to filter visas. Authorities say the action was aimed at combating fraud, and in particular, a rampant offshore gaming sector that also preys on Chinese tourists.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday announced stricter visa controls for Chinese nationals that will kick in next week, citing the discovery of fraudulent immigration applications that had led to illegal entry and overstaying of foreigners.
“A major challenge is fake documents, particularly from the Chinese side,” Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Gary Domingo said. “To help remedy this, we are actually looking at a best practice used by other foreign embassies such as Japan, South Korea, the US and UK – and they also require applicants to submit a social insurance certificate.”
The new policy came after the National Security Council last month dispatched a team to investigate Tuguegarao, capital of Cagayan – located on the northern tip of Luzon island facing Taiwan – where some 4,600 Chinese nationals were enrolled in private universities.
Government officials had expressed concern earlier about the alarming surge of Chinese nationals studying in private universities in Tuguegarao City, which also houses three new sites under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), a pact with the United States that allows it to access military bases in the Philippines.
Asked on Thursday by reporters if the new policy was linked to Beijing’s growing aggression in the South China Sea and the alleged potential sleeper cells operating in Cagayan, Domingo clarified that the crackdown was not related to national security.
The DFA, according to Domingo, will continue to require the “presentation of proof for financial capacity with employment certificate and bank statements”, but authorities will be more vigilant in “scrutinising” applicants’ documents.
“This is also for the good of the Chinese because again these Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators [Pogo] who are able to get away, who are their victims? Their fellow Chinese” he said.
Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Studies of De La Salle University, described the government’s action as an added layer of protection amid growing concerns of Chinese activities in the country, including the Pogo operations.
“This comes at a time when China continues to escalate its information operations in the Philippines. Therefore, as any responsible agency would, such measures are needed to ensure legitimacy,” Gill said.
“There is a possibility for China to retaliate by imposing certain restrictions or adding additional requirements for Filipinos who visit China. Beijing is quite notorious for its tit-for-tat strategy when it comes to immigration policies,” he added.
Defence analyst Chester Cabalza, founding president of the International Development and Security Cooperation, said he hoped China and the world would not perceive Manila’s new visa policy as Sinophobic or racist.
“Manila has the right to cast doubts and will certainly have a prerogative to filter visa issuances. It is the duty of the DFA to protect our state from potential national security threats,” Cabalza said.
“It is rational for the Philippines to strictly require a social insurance certificate to profile the visitors and know their intents in travelling or studying to key strategic locations amid the blow-by-blow aggression of China to our maritime waterways and economic hotspots,” he stressed.
The Pogo industry has been expanding exponentially in recent years, as operators cashed in on the country’s liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.
At their peak, Pogos hired more than 300,000 Chinese workers. According to official estimates, Pogo workers legally staying in the Philippines number between 100,000 and 150,000.
During his six years in office, former president Rodrigo Duterte sought closer ties with Beijing that led to an influx of Chinese investments, businesses and tourists.
Ray Powell, a maritime security analyst at the Gordian Knot Centre for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, said Manila’s new policy might marginally exacerbate tensions.
“But these seem like reasonable steps to deal with an acute and well-documented security problem. Whether Beijing uses the Pogos as a hub for conducting espionage is unclear, but certainly organised crime is a real threat,” Powell said.
On Tuesday at a Senate hearing, lawmakers alleged that a Pogo operation within a 7.9-hectare property that was raided by authorities in the town of Bamban in Tarlac province was not only linked to internet fraud but to surveillance activities and cyberattacks targeting state agencies.
Law enforcers raided the property owned by Baofu Land Development on March 13 after a Vietnamese worker managed to escape. Around 800 victims, 427 of them Chinese nationals, were rescued.
“I was very disturbed to hear that there is persuasive information from the intelligence community stating that this Bamban complex was being used for surveillance activities,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said.
“Are Pogos now being used to spy on us? Are we being fried in our own oil?” she asked.
In the same senate investigation, incidents of cyberattacks against government websites were traced to the compound.
“Is there a larger and more sinister end game besides Pogos and scams? It does not abate my worries that separate sources in the intelligence community and various executive agencies are sounding the alarm about large tracts of land around EDCA sites being purchased by Chinese nationals with Filipino identity documents,” the opposition senator claimed.