A Chinese official called out the Philippines for “shadow-chasing” and “peddling” reports on an alleged “Chinese spy” arrested in Manila for conducting espionage activities around military facilities in the Luzon area.

In a press conference in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning urged the Philippines to protect the rights of Chinese nationals in Manila and encourage their fellow nationals to comply with local policies abroad.

“The Chinese government, as always, asks Chinese nationals overseas to abide by local laws and regulations,” she said.

“We hope the Philippines will stick to the facts, stop shadow-chasing, stop peddling the so-called ‘Chinese spy,’ and earnestly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the Philippines,” she added.

Last Monday, Philippine military and law enforcement authorities announced the arrest of Deng Yuanqing for conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities with two Filipino cohorts.

Philippine authorities said the arrested Chinese spy was a specialist in “control engineering” and a graduate of a university controlled and operated by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China’s military organization.

According to Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Romeo Brawner Jr., the Chinese national and his accomplices had also accessed and gathered data from various Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the country.

“When we looked at the areas where this group went to, we saw that they’re going into some EDCA sites. So it’s very possible that the coordinates and the topography could be used for military targeting purposes,” he said.