More Chinese tourists expected to visit PH
THE Chinese Embassy in Manila expects more Chinese tourists to visit the Philippines after the pandemic as it denied the inclusion of Manila in its “blacklist”.
A statement released by the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday night said, “the report of ‘tourist blacklist’ is misinformation. China has not placed the Philippines on its blacklist for tourism.”
The embassy said “tourism is an important component of practical cooperation between China and the Philippines” and that it expects “more Chinese tourists to come to this country after the pandemic.”
In an earlier statement, Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian stressed Beijing’s firm opposition to POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) operations.
“Crimes induced by and associated with POGO not only harm China’s interests and China-Philippines relations but also hurt the interests of the Philippines,” he said.
“It is therefore widely believed that social costs of POGO far outweigh its economic benefits to the Philippines in the long run, and POGO should be tackled from the root so as to address the social ills in a sweeping manner,” the statement continued.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri , following a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, said the Philippines had been blacklisted due to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) operating in the country.
In a Facebook post, Zubiri said, “it was lost in translation and what the good Ambassador meant was we could be [possibly] blacklisted as he mentioned they do that to countries who promote gambling for their countrymen.”
He said the Senate respected the statement as one of careful diplomacy as the Chinese Embassy did not want to raise “any diplomatic alarm bells.”
In 2020, the Chinese government established a blacklist system for tourist sites in response to emerging gambling overseas destinations attracting Chinese tourists.
There have been calls to ban POGO operations in the country after reported crimes associated with it, among them murder, kidnapping, scamming, and prostitution, mostly involving Chinese nationals.
