Philippines investigates allegations of Chinese journalist acting as state agent

Authorities in the Philippines are investigating claims that a Manila-based foreign journalist could be a Chinese agent, an allegation that analysts say reflects an ongoing campaign targeting the Southeast Asian country through covert operations.

National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said in an interview with ABS-CBN News on Tuesday that Philippine authorities were investigating Zhang “Steve” Song, who was the Manila bureau chief for the Wenhui Daily newspaper from 2021 to this year. His comments followed a report by local news website Rappler on Saturday that Philippine intelligence operatives had identified Zhang as an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security.

Rappler cited a Philippine intelligence report published in May for its story on Zhang, who was formerly the chief Washington DC correspondent for the Wenhui Daily. The Shanghai-based newspaper, also known as Wenhui Bao, is owned by the Shanghai United Media Group. According to Rappler, Zhang’s written output was infrequent and few when he was in Manila.

Zhang was not registered with the International Press Center, a Philippine government agency overseeing the accreditation of foreign journalists in the country. Citing the Philippine intelligence report, Rappler said Zhang had “established a significant network in various strategic institutions”.

Malaya told ABS-CBN News: “We are having our intelligence unit verify the report. But I am not surprised if these things are happening. It is part and parcel of Chinese malign influence.

“Whatever comes out in the investigation … Whatever evidence that we are able to collect will lead to possible legal prosecution. We will go where the evidence brings us.”

The Rappler report mentioned that Zhang had met media personnel ahead of a resupply mission by the Philippines to the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded World War II vessel serving as Manila’s outpost on the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. The media personnel were said to have good knowledge of Philippine military strategies, according to the report.

The Philippine intelligence started tracking Zhang’s public engagements from last year. Zhang also met with officials from the Philippine unit of Chinese tech giant Huawei and video surveillance company Hikvision, Rappler reported. In recent years, several countries such as the US, Japan and Australia have banned Huawei’s products from their mobile networks over security concerns.

According to Malaya, the investigation will look into the contacts that Zhang had established during his time in the country. Immigration authorities are looking into Zhang’s movements to find out if he is still in the Philippines.

“As to the information domain, we have seen them actively working. For example, if a statement came from China, it will be amplified by local groups that are pro-China in an effort to induce warmongering tactics in the Philippines,” Malaya said.

When asked about the number of Chinese nationals in the Philippines being monitored by the NSC due to suspicious activities, Malaya declined to comment, citing security considerations.

“These are agents of foreign powers and they comprise a national security threat,” he said.

This Week in Asia tried to call Zhang on his mobile phone but to no avail. This reporter also sent media queries to his account on the Japanese messaging app Viber but he did not respond.

According to a representative of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Zhang’s name and agency are not in the association’s database.

Sherwin Ona, an associate professor of political science at De La Salle University in Manila, told This Week in Asia that the presence of agents in the Philippines was not a new phenomenon.

“What I’m more afraid of is the ability of these sleeper agents to influence Filipinos using their vast resources. We need to expose their tactics,” Ona said.

“Zhang’s case is just a drop in the bucket. We should always plan for the worst case because we saw how aggressive our enemy was [in the South China Sea]. They will do all ... to take advantage of us,” he added.

Edmund Tayao, president and CEO of the Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists think tank, said there was no reason to fear that Zhang’s case could lead to curbs on media freedom in the Philippines. On the contrary, reports of the case serve to highlight Beijing’s ulterior motives in the Philippines, according to Tayao.

“It only adds to what we already know that China is bent on affecting how we do things, especially in government. The end goal is quite obvious, for China to be able to control the Philippines,” he told This Week in Asia.

The investigation into Zhang comes after former mayor Alice Guo came under the spotlight over suspicions of her being a Chinese asset. Guo is facing an arrest warrant issued by the Philippine Senate and in hiding as investigations continue into her alleged links to an illegal online gaming firm in Bamban town in the province of Tarlac.

The police raided in March a compound in Bamban that was allegedly run by Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) with Chinese links, which led to the investigation into Guo’s background. In June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr ordered a total and immediate ban on Pogos in the country.

Guo has repeatedly denied being a Chinese citizen, saying she was a Filipino. An investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation revealed that Guo’s fingerprints were identical to those of a woman who came to the country as a teen in 2003 with a Chinese passport.

In June, authorities began probing more than a thousand cases of Chinese nationals who secured birth certificates in the civil registry office of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur in the southern Philippines. Most of them are living in Luzon where Pogos had previously operated.

The onus was now on security agencies to address the vulnerabilities in the country’s critical infrastructure and points of entry, Ona said.

Citing the saga over Pogos and Zhang’s case, Ona urged the Philippine government to strengthen the country’s counter-intelligence capabilities through legislation.

“The current law penalises espionage during wartime situations only. Congress should enact a new espionage law that will be more relevant given our current situation,” Ona said.(SCMP)