Recently, the Philippine Department of Justice announced that175 offshore POGOs will be closed and 40,000 Chinese citizens will be repatriated. Philippine Department of Justice spokesman Klavano said the above behavior will not be tolerated. In this regard, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian also made a statement. Below, let’s find out together.
Kravano said, “We think it’s better to send a signal that this kind of behavior is intolerable and unacceptable to this country.” It is understood that since 2016, the rapid development of POGOs in the Philippines has caused bad social impact.
It is worth mentioning that on September 21, Huang Xi, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, and Philippine Attorney General Remula had a phone call to exchange in-depth views on strengthening law enforcement cooperation between China and the Philippines and jointly cracking down on crimes related to online gambling. Ambassador Huang said that the Chinese government has always firmly opposed and severely cracked down on all forms of gambling. According to Chinese law, any form of gambling, including online gambling and Chinese citizens’ outbound gambling, is illegal. It is understood that most of the recent crimes against Chinese citizens in the Philippines are related to online gambling. The Chinese side appreciates the recent actions taken by the Philippine law enforcement agencies to rescue a group of Chinese citizens and shut down several Philippine online gambling companies. The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has maintained close communication and cooperation with the Philippine side during this process. Crimes induced by online gambling damage not only China’s interests and China-Philippines relations, but also the interests of the Philippines. The Chinese government protects the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens in accordance with the law. The Chinese side is willing to further strengthen law enforcement cooperation with the Philippine side to effectively protect the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the Philippines. At the same time, we urge the Philippine side to take strong measures to crack down on crimes related to online gambling, so as to completely solve the root cause of this persistent social disease. The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with the Philippine government and law enforcement agencies in this regard, and jointly handle relevant issues including repatriation.