Beijing to help in war on drugs

THE Chinese Embassy in Manila said it is willing to cooperate with the Philippine government in their crackdown on the illegal drugs trade.

They issued the statement following the arrest of Zhou Liming, a Chinese national at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) after 11 packs of shabu was found inside her luggage.

Li Lingxiao, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, said the crackdown on drug-related crimes is a responsibility shared by all countries in the world.

“The Chinese government has been firm and severe in drug control and in punishing all drug criminals in accordance with laws regardless of their nationalities,” Lingxiao said.

Lingxiao said the Chinese government recognizes that cracking down drug-related crimes is a top priority of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The statement also added that China is willing to cooperate and would like to “work out a specific plan of action with the Philippine side.”

Zhou was temporarily detained at the Aviation Security Unit in Central Visayas (AVSEU-7) pending the filing of charges against her for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Zhou’s arrest was a cause for concern among the Cebuano-Chinese community as a Cebuano-Chinese businessman appealed to the media and the public not to engage in generalization and stereotyping.

Philip Tan, past president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said people should learn to differentiate Filipino-Chinese who live in the Philippines and Chinese nationals who are from China.

“We, the Filipino-Chinese who live here, respect the Philippines’ rule of law. Those who have recently been arrested are not Filipino-Chinese,” he told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.

Tan referred to the four Chinese nationals arrested on a “floating shabu lab” off Subic waters and Zhou’s arrest at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Tan said there are always “good and bad eggs” in every nationality, not just Chinese and it was just unfortunate that Chinese nationals were arrested.

He said it is the Filipino-Chinese community who has to deal with the public’s judgment.

Tan, president and CEO of Wellmade Motors and Development Corp., was born and raised in Cebu but has pure Chinese blood.

He said many Filipino-Chinese such as the Gokongweis and Lucio Tan have done many philanthropic works for the country.

Tan said it hurts him to hear local radio commentators engage in stereotyping the Chinese due to the recent drug-related incidents.

“It’s so unfair when radio commentators say ‘these Chinese.’ They have to be very specific. We are Filipinos, those arrested are not,” Tan said.

The Cebuano-Chinese businessman said this mindset will create animosity between Filipinos and Filipino-Chinese if left unchanged.

Others like Dickson Lim, Cebu Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce vice president, said it is business as usual for the community.

“Race has nothing to do with business because all Filipino-Chinese businesses here are legitimate,” he said.