China Philippines photo:VCG

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines expressed appreciation for the Philippine authorities' powerful action in rescuing Chinese nationals subjected to forced labor and asked the Philippines to protect the rescued Chinese nationals' safety and legitimate rights and interests.

In a recent operation carried out in the province of Pampanga, the Philippines, local law enforcement departments rescued people from multiple countries who were suspected of being trafficked and subjected to forced labor. 

Around 1,000 people of different nationalities, who were allegedly forced to work for cyber fraud, were rescued in Clark, Pampanga, the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Friday.

Police operatives raided a cyber-marketing company linked to human trafficking and sale of questionable cryptocurrencies operating in Mabalacat City and rescued 1,090 individuals, including 919 foreign and 171 Filipino employees on Thursday night. Over 300 Chinese from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan island were rescued during the operation, according to media reports. 

The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines attaches great importance to this case and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian immediately sent embassy officials to assist and learn more about the operation, verify information of the Chinese nationals involved, and provide Chinese translation services as soon as possible to assist the Philippines in verifying the identity of the Chinese nationals. 

On May 6, the embassy dispatched a working group to visit the rescued Chinese nationals and coordinate in-depth communications with the Philippine law enforcement department. 

The working group thanked the Philippine side for taking powerful actions to rescue Chinese nationals who fell victims to the criminal syndicate, and urged the case to be investigated quickly and the criminals to be severely punished. The working group also urged the Philippines to effectively protect the personal safety and legitimate rights and interests of the rescued Chinese nationals. 

Both sides exchanged views on further strengthening cooperation in law enforcement and cracking down on criminal activities such as human trafficking and forced labor. The working group asked that the Philippines continue to take strong measures to crack down on online crimes and thoroughly solve this problem from its root cause. 

The Philippines expressed its gratitude to the Chinese embassy for dispatching relevant officials. They stated that they will accelerate the gathering of criminal evidence of the suspects to ensure that they are punished according to law, and will continue to work closely with the Chinese side to jointly combat cross-border crimes. 

Global Times