Philippine authorities have arrested a Chinese national and two Filipino citizens suspected of conducting surveillance on critical infrastructure, including military facilities, the country’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Monday.
The suspects are believed to be connected to a China-linked network operating under the guise of autonomous vehicle developers. They could face espionage charges for gathering and disseminating sensitive information related to national defense using advanced technology.
Law enforcement officials identified six individuals suspected of involvement in the group, with three currently residing in China. One of the arrested suspects, Deng Yuanqing, a Chinese national and software engineer, was allegedly affiliated with a university under the control of the People’s Liberation Army. The university is known for its focus on disciplines related to modern warfare and cybersecurity, with Yuanqing specializing in automation and engineering.
As part of the spying operation, members of the group equipped a car with surveillance devices and traveled back and forth for a month in the capital, Manila, and the country’s largest and most populous island, Luzon.
The alleged spies were tasked with gathering images of landscapes, buildings and the overall layout of potential targets. The NBI said that collecting critical national defense information without the Philippine government’s approval violates the country’s laws.
Philippine authorities reported that the surveillance equipment seized during the arrests contained sensitive data, including topographic footage and maps of vital infrastructure. Officials said the devices could be accessed and controlled remotely via the internet.
At a press conference on Monday, Philippine Armed Forces Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said that the suspects frequently passed through military bases, local government offices, power plants and police stations. The information collected could be used for military targeting, he said.
Image: NBI
Brawner also said that following the arrests, security measures at all military installations nationwide would be increased, with enhanced screening for all individuals entering these facilities.
He also confirmed that this was the second arrest of a suspected Chinese spy by Philippine authorities. In a previous case, equipment seized from the suspects contained images of military and police installations in Manila.
The Chinese embassy in Manila has not issued an official statement in response to the allegations. The arrests come amid growing tensions between the two nations over disputes in the strategic South China Sea.
Earlier in January, Bloomberg reported that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had infiltrated a Philippine government agency, stealing sensitive data as part of a multi-year cyber espionage campaign. Philippine authorities have declined to provide further details on the alleged breach but assured that no current information had been compromised.
Over the weekend, a member of BreachForums also claimed to have leaked data from the NBI that reportedly included full names, addresses, transaction IDs, reference numbers, statuses, amounts, transaction dates, cities, provinces, areas, contact information and more. The agency hasn’t commented on these claims.
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Daryna Antoniuk
is a reporter for Recorded Future News based in Ukraine. She writes about cybersecurity startups, cyberattacks in Eastern Europe and the state of the cyberwar between Ukraine and Russia. She previously was a tech reporter for Forbes Ukraine. Her work has also been published at Sifted, The Kyiv Independent and The Kyiv Post.
