On the evening of May 28, 64 Chinese citizens who were being held by Philippine authorities were finally released, according to the Chinese embassy in the Philippines. Another six are still going through release procedures.
They had been working at a steel factory in Misamis Oriental province. The Philippine Department of Justice recently ruled that the evidence against them—alleged violations of the country’s nuclear safety law, immigration law, and labor law—was insufficient, so they should be let go.
On May 15, Philippine military and police raided the Sanjia Steel Plant (Phil-Sanjia Steel Corp.) in Misamis Oriental, supposedly over “illegal work.” More than 300 Filipino employees were let go on the spot, but all 69 Chinese employees were taken into custody. The authorities even used military aircraft to fly them to the capital, Manila.
The Chinese embassy and consulates in the Philippines repeatedly protested to senior Philippine officials and relevant departments, pointing out serious problems like procedural flaws in the enforcement, discriminatory treatment (only Chinese workers were detained), and prolonged detention. They demanded a fair and speedy resolution under the law, without harming the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens, and repeatedly sent consular officers to visit those in custody.
The Sanjia Steel Plant is a Chinese-invested enterprise that has been operating locally for years. Philippine authorities tried to link the plant to a Chinese businessman named Tony Yang, who has been in the spotlight recently due to his alleged ties to offshore gaming. But Sanjia Steel had already issued a statement saying that shareholder had fully pulled out years ago.
After the Chinese embassy presented valid visa documents, Philippine officials shifted gears, claiming the factory was involved in “radioactive contamination” and trying to escalate the matter to a national security level under the Nuclear and Safety Act.
This ruling of “insufficient evidence” by the justice department shows the earlier crackdown lacked legal basis and seemed more like selective enforcement. The incident has become a textbook case of the deteriorating business environment for Chinese-invested firms in the Philippines, where the local climate is shifting from “economic logic” to “over-securitization.”
In the past month alone, Philippine law enforcement has detained more than 150 Chinese citizens in six separate incidents, citing reasons like environmental pollution, expired visas, illegal operations, and national security. On May 27, the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in the Philippines, Ji Lingpeng, made clear the embassy’s position on these frequent detentions.
For each case, the Chinese embassy and consulates have demanded that Philippine authorities, in accordance with the Consular Agreement between China and the Philippines, inform the Chinese side within four days of any Chinese citizen being detained, arrested, or otherwise deprived of freedom, along with the reasons. They also demanded fair handling of the cases under the law, protection of the safety and legitimate rights of the Chinese citizens involved, and humane treatment. If investigations show no violation of Philippine law, the people should be released promptly, without illegal or prolonged detention.
China respects the Philippines’ judicial sovereignty and lawful law enforcement, but firmly opposes selective or discriminatory targeting of Chinese citizens. Beijing urges Manila to properly handle all related cases as soon as possible, without abusing power or engaging in political manipulation, and without harming the personal safety and lawful rights of Chinese citizens, so as not to disrupt normal people-to-people exchanges and economic ties between the two countries.
At the same time, the embassy reminds Chinese citizens in the Philippines to follow local laws and regulations, work and run businesses legally, and avoid activities inconsistent with their visa or entry purpose, as well as overstaying.
