The Chinese Embassy to the Philippines clarified on Tuesday that China has not placed the Philippines on the blacklist for tourism destinations.
The statement was released after Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the country was included in China's list due to the continued Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO), citing information from Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian.
"The report of 'tourist blacklist' is misinformation. China has not placed the Philippines on its blacklist for tourism," the Embassy said.
It said that when Huang met Zubiri, Senators Win Gatchalian, and Robinhood Padilla, he reiterated to them the policy of China and its firm opposition to POGO.
“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,” the statement reads.
“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,” it added.
The Embassy said that tourism is an “important component” in the practical cooperation between the two counties as it has helped “further deepen” their “long-time friendship."
It said that around two million Chinese traveled to the country before the pandemic occurred, and so they are expecting that more Chinese tourists would come after the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Zubiri released his statement in a Facebook post clarifying also what he had said.
“During our meeting with Ambassador Huang, the tone of his statement was that the Philippines is already being watched as tourist hotspots and have been warning their countrymen of possible crimes that could happen to them due to POGO,” he said.
“Maybe 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,” Zubiri said.
He asserted that the term "blacklist" came from Huang and not from them.
The Senate President stressed that the ambassador’s message was “loud and clear” that “POGOs are totally illegal in China, and those promoting it will be arrested”, the Chinese government is asking the country to "stop hosting this activity," and "it could affect tourism potentials" if it continues.
“That was the message, don't shoot the messenger,” Zubiri underscored.
