BEIJING, Mar 24 : China on Monday said it had not received any application for asylum from Philippines’ former president Rodrigo Duterte, regarded as a close ally of Beijing, who was arrested after his visit to Hong Kong.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 at Manila’s main airport and deported to The Hague for trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the allegations of serious human rights violations, including sanctioning the killings of drug dealers as part of his war against drugs.
Asked about reports from the Philippines that Duterte sought asylum in China before his arrest, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a media briefing here that the Chinese government had never received any so-called asylum application from Duterte or his family.
“Let me point out in particular that Duterte’s visit to Hong Kong was a private vacation trip. We have never received the so-called application for asylum to the Chinese government from former president Rodrigo Duterte or his family,” Guo said.
“We hope people from the media can be careful about the so-called “information from sources,” either unfounded or ill-motivated, and do not easily believe what they hear,” he said.
The media outlets in the Philippines last week reported that Duterte’s asylum application was rejected by China before he was arrested in Manila.
Before his arrest, Duterte travelled to Hong Kong on March 7 to attend an event of overseas Filipino workers along with his daughter, Vice-President Sara Duterte.
The UN and the Roman Catholic church, the dominant religion in the Philippines, have condemned Duterte’s policies as a violation of human rights.
Philippines’ media outlet GMA News Online reported last Thursday that China “allegedly rejected Duterte’s request for asylum”.
It also said the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – preferred to apprehend Duterte in Hong Kong but the Hong Kong Police Force refused to cooperate with Interpol as China is not a member or party to the Rome Statute.
Duterte, who was the President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was regarded as an ally of China as he sought to build close ties with Beijing even after an international tribunal in 2016 struck down its claims on the South China Sea and ruled in favour of the Philippines claims of sovereignty over the area.
China has rejected the tribunal’s verdict.
China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area.
On a visit to Beijing in 2016, Duterte also severed his country’s close ties with the US after his talks with President Xi Jinping. (PTI)
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