Because POGO. The Philippines is on China's tourism blacklist? The Chinese Embassy denies this claim

According to several mainstream media reports in the Philippines, Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the Philippine Senate, quoted Huang Xilian, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, as saying on Tuesday that China has blacklisted the Philippines as a tourist destination because of the continuous operation of offshore gaming operators (POGO).

Speaking before the Senate on the costs and benefits of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO), Zuberi said Ambassador Huang Xilian disclosed this to him in a meeting with other senators on Monday.

"Ambassador Huang said that the Philippines is part of the blacklist of Chinese tourist destinations because they don't know whether Chinese tourists coming to the Philippines will join the bookmakers or whether Chinese tourists going to the Philippines will be affected by illegal activities. They may be kidnapped by being mistaken for POGO operators. That's why Chinese tourists have fallen sharply," Zuberi said."

According to the Philippine Ministry of Tourism, China is one of the largest sources of tourists in the Philippines. In 2019, the number of Chinese residents entering the country was 1,257 and 962. The number of arrivals from China dropped to 22,236 this year.

Earlier in the hearing, Rosemary Ediron (Rosemarie Edillon), deputy secretary of the National Economic Development Agency, also mentioned China's blacklist, but noted that it had not been made public, although it may target gambling destinations including the Philippines.

Zubiri quoted Ambassador Huang Xilian as saying that China hopes the Philippine government will take action on this.

The Philippine Presidential Office said that it has not received any consultation on this matter.

Cheloy Garafil, head of the press secretary's office, told a news conference: "We have not received any advice on this blacklist issue. Once we receive that advice, we will make appropriate comments."

Asked if the government was concerned about the matter, Garafel said she did not want to speculate and would prefer to wait for consultation before making any comments.

Meanwhile, when asked if the move was unfair, Gallafher said: "I don't want to comment on things that we haven't confirmed yet."

At the beginning of the hearing, Rosemary Ediron (Rosemarie Edillon), deputy minister of the Philippine National Economic Development Bureau, said that China had called on several countries to ban offshore gambling, but the Philippines "did not heed the call".

China denies putting Philippines on tourism blacklist

A few hours after the above-mentioned news was released, on the evening of the 11th, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines issued a statement on the Internet, officially denying that China had included the Philippines on its tourism blacklist. The statement said:

Ambassador Huang Xilian held a warm and fruitful meeting yesterday with Senate President Zubiri, Senator Weingachalian and Senator Padilla. The two sides exchanged views on further strengthening China-Philippines relations and discussed practical cooperation in renewable energy, electric vehicles, e-commerce, people-to-people exchanges, and combating crimes related to online gambling.

The embassy of Huang Xilian reiterated China's policy and firm opposition to online gambling. According to Chinese laws and regulations, the behavior of Chinese citizens gambling abroad and opening casinos to attract Chinese citizens as their main customers constitutes a gambling crime. Criminal responsibility can be investigated in accordance with the provisions of our criminal law. the chinese government and law enforcement departments have been taking drastic measures to crack down on various forms of gambling.

Most of the recent criminal activities against Chinese citizens in the Philippines are related to online gambling. The Chinese government cares about and protects the safety and legitimate rights and interests of every overseas Chinese citizen. The Chinese Embassy has been maintaining close communication with Philippine law enforcement agencies and strengthening cooperation to jointly combat online gambling-related criminal activities against Chinese citizens in the Philippines.

It is commendable that the relevant law enforcement agencies in the Philippines rescued a number of Chinese citizens during the operation and closed some POGO companies.

The crimes triggered by and related to POGO have not only harmed China's interests and Sino-Philippine relations, but also harmed the interests of the Philippines. Therefore, we generally believe that in the long run, the social cost of POGO far exceeds its economic benefits to the Philippines. POGO should be fundamentally solved, so as to completely solve the social disadvantages.

Tourism is an important part of practical cooperation between China and the Philippines, which has further deepened the long-standing friendship between the two peoples. Before the new crown epidemic, nearly 2 million Chinese citizens went to the Philippines in 2019, making China the second largest source of tourists in the Philippines. We expect more Chinese tourists to come to the country after the outbreak.

chinese philippine senator zhang qiaowei (Sherwin Gatchalian) also attended the meeting with huang xilian. In an interview with the media, he clarified that China has not yet blacklisted the Philippines.