By AFP and Focus | 2025-02-25

Philippine authorities said on February 25 they detained two Chinese nationals for spying, the latest in a series of arrests involving alleged espionage as confrontations between the countries increase in the disputed South China Sea.

The couple allegedly paid a trio of Filipino accomplices to drive them through the capital Manila while using an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catcher, a device capable of mimicking a cell tower and snatching messages from the air in a 1-3km radius.

Vehicles carrying the devices were operating near sensitive sites including the presidential palace, the US embassy, Camp Aguinaldo, Camp Crame and Villamor Air Base, according to the NBI.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) identified the Chinese suspects as Ni Qinhui and his wife Zheng Wei, according to a report on the website of Inquirer.net.

Zheng admitted that Ni had several IMSI catchers in their condo unit and that he did employ the three Filipino suspects, the report added.

NBI agent Ren Dela Cruz told reporters that "thousands" of pieces of data had been gathered before all five men involved were arrested in an operation on Thursday (February 20).

"These individuals were conducting covert and unauthorized intelligence gathering activities, posing a threat to national security," Col. Xerxes Trinidad, the Philippine military chief of public affairs, told reporters.

Drone espionage

A Filipino driver produced by authorities at the press briefing said he had been working with the men since October, and paid 3,000 pesos (about $52) a day for driving around the capital with "the box turned on."

As with six arrests made last month, officials declined to say for whom the electronically recorded information was intended.

In late January, local security officials said they had taken five alleged Chinese spies into custody. Two of the men were arrested for allegedly using a drone and high-resolution solar-powered camera to record activities at a naval base and other locations.

Earlier in January, police arrested a Chinese software engineer named Deng Yuanqing who was suspected of spying on military and police camps -- allegations that were denied by China.

The Chinese and US embassies did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Philippine Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner last month said it was premature to conclude that the spying was state-sponsored, with Filipino authorities yet to identify the end-receiver of the intelligence gathered.

South China Sea incidents on the rise

The espionage comes on the heels of a series of confrontations between the Philippines and China over contested reefs and waters in the strategic South China Sea.

China has been deploying navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar the Philippines from strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea.

In December, the Philippines said the Chinese coast guard used water cannon and "sideswiped" a government fisheries department vessel.

In addition, last week the Philippine coast guard said a Chinese Navy helicopter came "within 10 feet" (three meters) of a surveillance plane carrying journalists over the contested Scarborough Shoal.

The Scarborough Shoal -- a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea -- has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.