China could use Trojan horse tactic against Philippines, senator says, as fears grow over access to power grid
- Risa Hontiveros vows to push for an investigation by the Senate into claims that Beijing can control the electricity network
- China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said the allegations were ‘completely groundless’ and the grid was operated by the Philippines, with the Chinese partner offering technical support
China’s State Grid Corporation has a 40 per cent stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which operates the country’s power lines. On Wednesday, the NGCP broke a week-long silence by denying the claim and labelling it “baseless” and “purely speculative”.
NGCP spokeswoman Cynthia Perez-Alabanza said on national television that there were “several safeguards and layers in place, including biometric access control, which allow only authorised NGCP personnel to enter secured areas”.
She said the system was disconnected from the internet and remote users could not access its operations. “Our work stations and servers are also secured by several layers of firewall to block any unauthorised access,” Alabanza added.
But the company’s president and CEO Anthony Almeda was quoted by various local news outlets as saying that whoever was in his position as chief of the firm could be granted remote access to the controls in an emergency by using the system’s virtual private network (VPN).