(Jan 20): Philippine authorities arrested a Chinese national and two Filipino cohorts for alleged espionage, officials said on Monday, in a case that comes amid the nations’ lingering geopolitical tensions.

Manila’s National Bureau of Investigation on Jan 17 apprehended a Chinese software engineer, director Jaime Santiago said in a briefing.

“The case involved intelligence surveillance and operations perpetrated by a group of Chinese nationals [and] local cohorts,” Jeremy Lotoc, head of NBI’s cybercrime division, said in the same briefing.

Spying equipment, including one that can create 3D images of “target infrastructure” and navigational satellite system, were mounted on a vehicle used by the suspects, officials said.

“They frequent critical infrastructure specifically military camps, local government offices, power plants, police camps, stations even shopping malls,” Lotoc said.

The Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to a request for comment.

The Philippine armed forces in December also apprehended another Chinese individual, military chief General Romeo Brawner Jr, said in the same briefing. A suspected spying equipment and photos of army and police camps were recovered in a vehicle used by the suspect, he said.

Philippines and China are locked in a long-standing maritime dispute in parts of the South China Sea. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pushed backed against China’s expansive claims over the waterway, angering Beijing.

Early this month, Bloomberg News reported that Chinese-state sponsored hackers penetrated the executive branch of the Philippines government and stole sensitive data as part of a years-long campaign. A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said Beijing has consistently opposed all forms of hacking and cyberattacks.

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