Filipino-Chinese biz group says getting PH visa hard amid tensions
Chinese Filipino Business Club president Samuel Uy. Photo from CFBC Facebook page.
MANILA, Philippines—Filipino-Chinese traders said on Thursday it has become difficult for mainland Chinese businessmen to get a visa amid tensions between Manila and Beijing
According to Samuel Uy, president of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, two businessmen from Shanghai experienced this “just last week.”
“They said, it’s not easy to get a visa, these are business people,” Uy said in a forum in Manila.
“Based on their experience, only a few [Chinese] manage to obtain a [Philippine] visa at present,” he said.
Uy made this known when asked about his opinion on the advisory of the Chinese Embassy in Manila warning of “harassment” supposedly faced by its citizens and the “unstable” social security in the Philippines.
READ: China advises its citizens in PH: Beware of ‘traps and snares’
“Philippine law enforcement agencies have frequently interrogated and harassed Chinese citizens and enterprises,” the embassy said in a statement as translated via Google.
‘Something to do about racism’
For Uy, the warning perhaps “has something to do about racism.”
“Somehow I also feel it. Among our Filipinos sometimes there is that attitude, but not the majority of Filipinos—they are understanding. But there is a small percentage who have racist tendencies,” Uy said.
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Tensions continue to intensify between Manila and Beijing over recent espionage accusations and the ongoing West Philippine Sea dispute.
The country also banned the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) hubs in the country last year, which employ many Chinese nationals.
“Chinoy, we try to differentiate ourselves from those coming from—because sometimes they are linked to Pogo, it’s saddening, it’s saddening. That’s why our stand is, anything illegal, we don’t have that. We would like to have [a] good relationship with the government,” Uy said.
