As docu angers Guo, she’s told about ‘8 steps’ of Chinese spying

Alice Guo —Photo from Voltaire F. Domingo, Senate Social Media Unit/ Joseph B. Vidal, OSP

Allegations that Alice Guo is a Chinese spy gained new traction as members of the House of Representatives confronted the dismissed Bamban, Tarlac, mayor with an Al Jazeera documentary where her name cropped up in a dossier allegedly kept by a Chinese tycoon jailed in Thailand.

The documentary about She Zhijiang, produced by Al Jazeera 101 East, was shown during the House quad committee hearing late Friday night and elicited ed an agitated, almost furious reaction from Guo, a departure from her usually calm demeanor whenever questioned.

“I love the Philippines,” she stressed, speaking in the vernacular. “I am not a spy. It’s unfair for him (She Zhijiang) to say that I am one.”

READ: Alice Guo’s tricky answers trait of a ‘trained, smart spy’ – Lacson

‘Eight steps’

But for PBA Rep. Margarita Nograles, the similarities between Guo’s life in the Philippines and the “mission order” of alleged Chinese spies around the world—as suggested in the documentary—were too glaring to ignore.

“The spies of China across the world … it’s like they have steps for what to do,” she said.

The first of these “eight steps,” Nograles said, is to “choose a country—for example: Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand.”

Second is to “find an industrial complex, as we have seen in Pampanga and Tarlac.”

Next is to find Chinese nationals who can help finance a major business, as shown in the case of Zhang Ruijin who is wanted in Singapore for money laundering and yet became an incorporator of Baofu Inc., the company that leased land to a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) that would be operated by Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. in Bamban. Guo had been established in past hearings as the former president of Baofu.

The next step is to use local residents as dummies for the company. Nograles cited as examples Thelma Laranan and Rowena Evangelista, vegetable vendors who became “incorporators” of Hongsheng.

After completing the corporate setup, the fifth step is to enlist the help of powerful people in government. Nograles saw this happening in the alleged involvement of lawyer Harry Roque, former spokesperson of then President Rodrigo Duterte, in Lucky South 99, another controversial Pogo hub that operated in Porac, Pampanga.

Step six is to “incorporate other companies that look legitimate;” and seven, “create corporate layers around that business.’’

“Once these all happen, that’s when all the illegal stuff happens: trafficking, money laundering, gambling, online scams, love scams and tax evasion,” Nograles said, summing up Step. No. 8.

Not one-sided

“It’s sad. This seems to be the standard that (allowed them) to enter the country because this is not allowed in China. So they took advantage of our laws, our country and our resources,” she said, adding:

“This is not one-sided. All these steps would happen only with the knowledge of our own government.”

According to the Al Jazeera documentary, She Zhijiang is a “discarded Chinese spy” now wanted in China and has also been sanctioned by the United Kingdom. Linked to scam sites involved in

human trafficking and forced labor, he is currently in jail in Thailand, trying to dodge extradition to China whose government is now “trying to eliminate me” for his knowledge of state secrets.

In an interview, She Zhijiang said he had a dossier confirming the existence of Chinese spies, with “Guo Hua Ping” among the names listed. Guo Hua Ping is allegedly the real Chinese name of Alice Guo.

The purported dossier places Guo Hua Ping’s address in China’s Fujian province. According to the documentary, it turned out to be the local office of the Chinese Communist Party.

Request for campaign fund

She also claimed that Guo had asked him for money to help fund her 2022 campaign to be the mayor of Bamban, but that he declined the request because he “really didn’t want to offend the government of the Philippines.”

It was Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Almario who asked for the documentary to be shown during Friday’s hearing. After the viewing, a visibly livid Guo said she “wanted to get all the details because I also want to file a case” against She Zhijiang and Al Jazeera.

“I’ll find a way. I don’t know how, but I’ll talk to my lawyer to give me guidance on what law can be used,” she said. “I don’t know him and I have never asked for money during my campaign period. I want to make it clear to my countrymen that I love the Philippines and I am not a spy…our government agencies can prove that.”

“OK, relax,” Nograles later told her. “You don’t have to be riled up if you’re telling the truth.”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, in May, was the first to raise the possibility that Guo was a Chinese spy, noting inconsistencies in the public records pertaining to the ex-mayor’s identity that went unchecked when she ran for a local public office.