By Adolfo Quizon Paglinawan

 

Part One of Two: Foreign Spies, Anyone?

The Chinese national now detained by the National Bureau of Immigration for espionage is Deng Yuanqing, a graduate from Yangzhou Industrial Vocational and Technical College, where he majored in oil and petroleum refinery. 

His name in Chinese characters is 邓元清, meaning “clear.”

Mr. Clear has been mistaken for Professor Deng Yuanqing, whose Chinese name 邓元庆 means “celebration,” a distinguished academic affiliated with the Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army University of Science and Technology.

A reporter managed to get his hands on a copy of Mr. Clear’s student ID and made a simple comparison.

The blunder by our Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Bureau of Investigation is nothing short of a man-made catastrophe as it sends the credibility of two important agencies of the Philippine government to smithereens.

Both AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner and NBI Director Jaime Santiago now deserves to be decorated with a softdrink crown (tansan) for their historical contribution to Philippine comedy.

Fractured prosecution

The level of failure here is mind-boggling.  A crime is any act or omission of what is explicitly prohibited by law. Because it is personal (actus reus) therefore non-transferrable, and the establishment of a criminal motive (mens rea) is essential, the positive and unimpeachable identification of the offender is the first thing that must be established.

However, the prosecutorial pattern under the present administration is as if due diligence is not the basic hallmark of Philippine intelligence gathering but fishing expedition. How this glaring trip slipped through the cracks is anyone’s guess.

Perhaps it’s time for our officials to invest in a crash course on Journalism 101 pertaining to the five “W’s” and one “H” – as in who, what, where, when, why and how. Chinese linguistics, too. After all, a nation’s credibility rests on its ability to get the details right, especially on the international stage.

According to Ms. Anna Malindog-Uy, fellow of Asian Century PH Institute on Strategic Studies at the Peking University, there are two ways to learn the Chinese language: one is using “Pinyin,” which is the phonetic system, and the other, the more effective route, is studying the Chinese characters themselves to grasp the language truly.

But when conducting Open-Source or overt investigations on Chinese nationals, “Pinyin” is never preferred, much less Google. Only amateurs rely on Western search engines because they’re absolutely useless in China. Its dialects have complicated nuances, and just as in this “espionage” angle, sensitive individuating notes can easily be missed out.

Dealing with Chinese characters surrounding persons under investigation, Baidu is minimally recommended. It is the search engine used by most Chinese academics. Of course, a better highway will be Deepseek-R1, an artificial intelligence that can be downloaded free from the internet. Anything less is superficial and leads to chasing dead leads.

Brawner must wear a facemask for the remainder of his term. Santiago must be fired for his self-righteous hubris exhibited during the press conference last January 30 as he said:

“Here, you can see this is open source. You can see on the bottom HTTPS. If you open this, remember, this is open information. There is no need for intelligence. Just open this, and this information will come out. Let’s show it.

“Here, you can see that he is really a graduate of the People’s Liberation Army University in Nanjing, China. This is open source. We didn’t gather this information by ourselves. Even you, you can open your cellphones, you can see this.”

If this is the level we guard our backs, our national security is in imminent danger just by the sheer incompetence of the government.

And since it appears that the Marcos government has made Sinophobia a public policy, the 28 million Chinese in the Philippines, most of whom are Filipino citizens, is in clear and present danger of being typecast as a “spy”.

Mr. Bean ops

It indicates that our sleuthing is at the level of Mr. Bean, a buffoon character who has the unique talent of turning the most ordinary of situations into moments of excruciating embarrassment.

The AFP and the NBI presented reporters with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) website, showcasing two papers by Yuanqing Deng, the so-called internationally renowned professor supposedly connected to the Chinese military.

Malindog-Uy said, “the page, as it stood, contains nothing more than the titles of his published papers. No photographs, no additional details.

“The research topics attributed to this “Yuanqing Deng” are high-level computer technologies, such as ‘input bits, output bits, strict standards, block ciphers, decoding, linear transformations, look-up tables, part of algorithms, and permutations’.”

Intrigued, she decided to conduct her own superficial research assisted by a friend.  Using the same keywords “Yuanqing Deng” on Baidu, they found confirmation of the same paper attributed to a professor at the PLA University of Science and Technology.

Prof. Deng Yuanqing, or “Mr. Celebration” has published more than 100 papers in both Chinese and English, with many included in international academic journals. He has also participated in numerous international conferences in his field. This professor is a recognized authority in electrical and electronic engineering.

This person, however, is in China and not the Deng Yuanqing (Mr. Clear) that the  AFP and NBI has been parading around in Manila, wearing a facemask and handcuffs.

This Deng graduated from Yangzhou Industrial Vocational and Technical College, where he majored in oil and petroleum refinery. He was only temporarily recruited by Zhejiang ATTC Automotive Technology Service Co., Ltd. in December last year to fill in for an employee who had to return to China due to family matters.

By the way, Zhejiang ATTC Automotive Technology Service Co., Ltd. is a Chinese company that offers comprehensive international certification services for automotive products, assisting manufacturers in meeting global regulatory standards, a company that guides automotive manufacturers in navigating regulatory complexities and ensures that products meet international safety and quality standards.

It is headquartered in Ningbo, Zhejiang and a leading enterprise in the domestic automotive technology service sector, with high visibility and a good reputation in the industry whose services encompass various certifications, including China CCC Certification, EU E/e-Mark Certification, U.S. DOT Certification, Russian GOST-R Certification: Australian ADR Certification, and Saudi Arabia GCC, SASO Certification, among others.

Teresita Ang See, famous Filipino-Chinese community leader, said the equipment Brawner was bruiting to be sophisticated spying equipment, could be purchased from Lazada and Shopee.

Asian Century consulted its backroom techies.  Here is the comment of ECE, one of our consultants with CISCO certification:

“Based on what I saw, one was a signal jammer or SMS blaster, and a voltage source inverter.

“Hindi po kaya supplyan ng car battery ang isang sophisticated spying equipment. (A car battery cannot supply the power requirement of a sophisticated spy equipment.)

“Pagtatawanan tyo ng China kung ganyan lang ang tech acumen level ng NBI natin. ($het) Magbigti na lang kyo please.” (The Chinese will make us a laughingstock if the technical level of our National Bureau of Investigation is that low. Why don’t they just hang themselves?)

“This rushed and unconfirmed investigation regarding a Chinese spy led to detaining an innocent person”, adds Herman Tiu Laurel, Asian Century president.

Ferdinand Topacio, a celebrated human rights lawyer, called the faux pas, “clumsy and amateurish” saying espionage during peacetime is a minor offense under our revised penal code.

The trial by publicity is aggravating our diplomatic relations with another country, whose embassy was initially denied a consular visit to their detained national, according to Topacio.

The lack of transparency has led to suspicions that the suspect has been subjected to torture.

The suspect’s wife, Noemi Deng, told a press conference her husband was conducting surveys for a firm that specializes in self-drive cars.

“I can only say one thing: he is not a spy,” she said.

Noemi Deng said she met her husband online in 2013 and travelled frequently to China, but could not provide details about his professional background.

 After staying in the Philippines for more than 10 years, they have had one child. They have also established a legitimate business in Zamboanga.

These facts dilute National Security Council’s spokesman Jonathan Malaya’s propaganda line that the Philippine security sector has a solid case against Deng Yuangqing.

Malaya of course is the last person we can expect an expert answer on matters of law, as he is not even a lawyer.

Geopolitical narrative

Deng’s arrest came at a time of mistrust and maritime rivalry between China and the Philippines and as Manila boosts its security ties with defense ally the United States.

Unwittingly condescending, AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla told a press briefing, “The AFP understands her concern being, of course, emotionally involved being a wife, a mother,” said in a press briefing.

“But for the AFP, we look into the evidence-based results of this investigation. And anything in our power to help in aiding that the truth comes out from this, we will do in the AFP,” she added.

Padilla reiterated that authorities found out that the Chinese man was conducting unauthorized intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance activities.

“What we can point out is that these are crucial features that have been found in the data. So these are military camps, (Philippine National Police) camps, places that are frequently visited especially by a lot of Filipinos such as malls, airports, ports, and a lot of critical infrastructures as well. And they number (in the) hundreds,” she said.

The statements of Colonel Padilla were unreliable. What the AFP should be revealing to the public is what in Deng’s business research cannot be found in Google and Waze, and what are his verified criminal motives, if any.

Just as this was brewing, again the National Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of five Chinese citizens for allegedly spying on the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard assets in Palawan.

NBI Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lotoc said the bureau received information that a group of Chinese were posing as buyers of products in Barangay Buenavista, Puerto Princesa City, and who installed a long-range CCTV camera on a coconut tree at a beach and drones to monitor vessels that were entering and leaving the West Philippine Sea. 

As I anticipated, Brawner has already been implicating these “coconut spies” with Deng Yuanqing, even if media first identified them as Taiwanese tourists. The NBI story had a little color to it, as those arrested were immediately identified as comprising of a field commander, two intelligence operatives, a financier, and a member.

Sounds fresh from an American playbook.

What I am waiting for Lotoc to explain instead, is what information have they gathered that the Chinese government do not already know in real time through their most sophisticated satellite and AI capabilities, without any need to recourse to human intelligence gathering.

Contradictions

The official position of the Chinese government has been conveyed by its embassy in Manila, thus:

“The so-called “espionage” operation of a Chinese citizen in the Philippines is baseless speculation and accusation.

“The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has expressed concerns to the Philippine side and requested for consular visit to the said Chinese citizen so as to provide consular assistance. The family of the Chinese citizen in custody approached the Embassy with concern about his safety and fair treatment and presented some facts different from the accusation by the Philippine authorities.”

“We urge the Philippine side to base its judgment on facts, not to make presumption of guilt, stop airing groundless speculations about the so-called ‘Chinese spy case’, handle relevant cases in accordance with the law, earnestly fulfill the obligations of the bilateral consular treaty and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the Philippines.”

All this is happening on the 50^th anniversary of Philippine -China diplomatic relations established by President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos on June 9, 1975 with the signing of a Joint Communiqué by leaders of both countries, signifying the Philippines’ recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legitimate government of China. 

The old Marcos must be turning in his grave, with a son falling far from the tree. After 30 months in office, Bongbong Marcos has not shown any indication on building on the good works of his father in this respect, but destroying them.

TO BE CONTINUED. Next, the more likely places to look for foreign spies

   

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