According to Benar News, a Southeast Asian news outlet affiliated with this station, Philippine authorities announced on Wednesday the recent arrest of six Chinese nationals and one Filipino who were suspected of disguising themselves as fishermen and conducting espionage operations against U.S. and Philippine naval vessels in the strategic Subic Bay.
The arrests occurred on March 19th after Philippine intelligence agencies discovered suspicious foreign nationals conducting covert intelligence gathering on Grande Island, at the entrance to Subic Bay. National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago reported that the six Chinese nationals, who had visited the island under the guise of recreational fishing, often stayed at the dock late into the night. Multiple witnesses reported that the Chinese nationals, while pretending to use drones to deliver bait, were actually monitoring US and Philippine naval assets in the area. Investigators seized a large amount of evidence, including photographs, documents, and electronic devices. The arrested Filipinos were serving as security guards for the group.
As of now, the Chinese Embassy in Manila and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not responded to the incident.
Grande Island, located at the entrance to Subic Bay, holds significant strategic significance. From 1901 to 1992, Subic Bay served as the largest U.S. overseas naval base. In 2023, China's official Xinhua News Agency and Global Times extensively reported on the investment plans of the American investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, LP in the bay. They strongly criticized the company's "civilian-to-military" strategy, which envisioned handing over the completed facilities to the U.S. military, thereby strengthening the U.S. military presence in the Philippines and "exacerbating tensions in the South China Sea and the Asia-Pacific."
Philippine officials stated that as friction between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea continues to escalate, the number of Chinese citizens arrested on suspicion of espionage has risen to 12 since 2024. In January this year, the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation arrested another group of Chinese spy suspects, one of whom was accused of driving a spy vehicle to collect intelligence at key locations in Manila, and five others who frequently appeared on Palawan Island facing the South China Sea, suspected of conducting intelligence reconnaissance against the Philippine Navy.
