Tolentino: Chinese meddling in PH polls part of long-running plot

Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said Chinaโ€™s interference in the upcoming Philippine midterm elections forms part of a sustained effort to push its agenda in the West Philippine through its proxy opportunist candidates in the countryโ€™s midterm elections.

In a media interview, Tolentino said the recent arrest of a Chinese national near the Commission on Elections main office in Manila supports the findings during a Senate inquiry he chaired, where signs of Beijingโ€™s possible espionage activities were unmasked.

The arrested Chinese national had an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) device, a telephone eavesdropping equipment used to intercept mobile phone traffic and for tracking location of mobile phone users.

Tolentino said a similar arrest was made in January, where financial documents linked to a Chinese-backed group, InfinitUs, were gathered from the suspects.

โ€œThis is not an isolated case; theyโ€™ve been doing this for years,โ€ he said, accusing Beijing of backing candidates they intend โ€œto manipulate to repeal pro-sovereignty laws and undermine PH-US defense ties.”

The Senator drew parallels with a 194-page Canadian parliamentary report on Chinese election interference and called for tougher laws, including his proposed Counter Foreign Espionage Act.

Tolentino warned the current conflict could result to a diplomatic break-up and the possible expulsion of Chinese diplomats.

โ€œWhatโ€™s at stake is our dignity as a nation,โ€ he stressed. (With PNA)