Chinese Embassy accuses Teodoro of 'distorting facts' on nabbed Chinese plant workers

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Sunday hit back at Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. regarding the arrest of several Chinese workers in a steel plant in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

"Secretary Teodoro’s remarks are completely unfounded. They distort the facts and turn black into white," the embassy said in a statement.

It can be recalled that a total of 69 Chinese workers were arrested during a raid at the Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corp.in Misamis Oriental last May. The operation was conducted by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), National Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies

On Saturday, Teodoro maintained that the activities by the arrested foreigners in the said plant were illegal. These include the regurgitation of substandard, radioactively contaminated steel; the dumping of untreated, polluted water into rivers; and the release of untreated toxic fumes.

For its part, the embassy questioned the AFPs role in the raid operation. It further questioned the arrest of the Chinese workers instead of the people behind the plant.

"First, in May this year, Teodoro instructed AFP to join the raid into the Sanjia Steel Corporation and arrest unarmed Chinese workers. Is Teodoro a national defense chief or a police chief? Why did he have a hand in the law enforcement operation? What is he up to? Is that part of his portfolio?" it said.

"Second, if the plant violated environmental or other laws, why were the workers arrested instead of the people in charge? Why were only the Chinese workers arrested, while all the Filipino workers were released on the spot? Why were the Chinese workers even transported to Manila for detention by a military aircraft?"

In his latest statement, Teodoro also said that Chinese Embassy officials actively intervened in local law enforcement processes and threatened retaliation against Filipinos, as revealed during a Senate hearing.

But the embassy denied the allegations.

"We fully respect the Philippines’ judicial sovereignty and the lawful handling of cases by its relevant law-enforcement authorities [...]However, we firmly oppose any discriminatory or selective law enforcement campaigns targeting Chinese nationals by the Philippine side out of political considerations," it said.

The embassy noted that it has the responsibility to check on any detained Chinese citizens abroad.

"Regardless of the reason a Chinese national is detained, the Chinese Embassy has the right and responsibility to conduct consular visits, provide consular protection, make demarches to relevant Philippine law-enforcement authorities to ensure humane, fair and just treatment of detained Chinese nationals," it added.

GMA News Online contacted the DND to get its comment but it has yet to issue a statement as of posting time.

Teodoro earlier condemned China’s action against more than 100 Filipinos suspected of illegally working or living in China.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that "foreign nationals in China should abide by Chinese laws and regulations." —KG, GMA News