Chinese-Filipino figure Teresita Ang See on Saturday called out what she described as a wave of Sinophobic sentiment by local politicians and media.
“The past days’ preoccupation with deliberate fanning of Sinophobia and racism by politicians and media spreading baseless whodunits of ‘students as spies’ is dangerous and unfortunate,” Ang See said in a statement during the “Pandesal Forum” at Quezon City’s Kamuning Bakery Cafe.
She cited how the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reported a significant number of Chinese students at St. Paul University in Tuguegarao “without qualifying what is significant relative to the total student population or giving context that it is the only university given authority by CHED and Bureau of Immigration to accept foreign students.”
“Neighboring countries take measures to entice Chinese tourists and Chinese students who wish to improve their English to better qualify for higher studies outside China. We, on the other hand, discourage them from coming by exhibiting blatant racism and racial profiling,” the founding chair of Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order said.
By spreading Sinophobia, Ang See said the Philippines is allowing itself to be drawn into a “proxy war” between China and the United States.
“The baseless and deliberate fanning of negative news on ‘influx of Chinese students’ serves only to exacerbate the ongoing geopolitical tensions arising from our maritime conflict with China,” she said.
Ang See noted further that such reports coming on the heels of the recent tripartite summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines—as well as the Balikatan exercises “supposedly to make our military better equipped and combat ready”—are not a coincidence.
“It is not a coincidence either that the EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) sites are in Cagayan and our military has been agitating for greater logistical support from the US and a bigger budget from our government for these sites,” Ang See added.