Duterte administration reels as Beijing slams Manila for undermining its cross-border gambling crackdown
- The Chinese embassy says its nationals are being targeted by gambling firms, resulting in hundreds of millions of yuan illegally flowing into the Philippines
- In a strongly worded statement, Beijing also called on Manila to punish Philippine gaming firms subjecting Chinese citizens to ‘modern slavery’
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said: “They should file formal complaints so that this particular concern will be raised in the appropriate agencies of the government so we can properly respond.”
In the Thursday statement, Beijing’s embassy slammed the Philippines for undermining its efforts to crack down on cross-border gambling. It said Chinese nationals were being targeted by gambling firms in the Southeast Asian nation, resulting in the illegal flow of “hundreds of millions of yuan” into the Philippines.
“This involves crimes such as cross-border money laundering through underground banking, which undermines China’s financial supervision and financial security,” the embassy said. “The fact that a large number of Chinese citizens are lured into illegal gambling has resulted in an increase of crimes and social problems in China.”
The fact that a large number of Chinese citizens are lured into illegal gambling has resulted in an increase of crimes and social problems in China
It also urged Manila to step up its protection of Chinese citizens, which it said were subjected to “modern slavery” after being lured into working illegally in gaming firms.
The embassy said Chinese nationals had been kidnapped, tortured and even killed after working for casinos and Pogos, which in some cases confiscated their passports.
Beijing emphasised that it would step up its crackdown on cross-border gambling and online payment platforms that provided technical support for such activities, pressing Manila to pay more attention to its position and “prevent and punish” casinos and Pogos for crimes that hurt Chinese citizens.
