Filipino wife of detained Chinese: He’s not a spy

MANILA, Philippines — The wife of the Chinese national who was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation earlier this month for alleged espionage activities asserted on Monday that her husband was not a spy.

“[Deng Yuanqing] is not a spy. He has been living in the Philippines for a long time, over 10 years,” Noemi Deng said during a press briefing at Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City.

Deng was one of three suspects, along with Filipinos Ronel Jojo Balundo Besa and Jayson Amado Fernandez, who were presented to the media by the NBI last week following their arrest for allegedly conducting illegal surveillance and spying activities, which targeted military sites and power installations in the country.

According to the NBI, the trio were arrested on Jan. 17 in Makati City after they were caught in a vehicle carrying a device, which was found to have been used to map critical infrastructures in the country.



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The NBI also said that Deng was a graduate of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) University of Science and Technology in Nanjing, China, who specialized in automation and control engineering.

Noemi said she met her husband online in 2013 and traveled frequently to China, but could not provide details about his professional background.

Road surveyor?

According to her, Deng was surveying roads in the country because the company he works for was involved in creating self-driving cars.

“He surveys roads for self-driving cars,” she told reporters. “He did not elaborate on what his work entails but based on my understanding, they are like Waze. They survey the roads where [the cars] will go.”

“I am not in a position to talk about his company because I am not part of it, only [Deng] can. I don’t know the right term to describe his work, but they test roads for driverless, self-driving cars. They have those in China,” Noemi added.

Chinese-Filipino civic leader Teresita Ang See, who had offered her help to Noemi, also countered the NBI’s claim that Deng was a graduate of PLA University.

Impartial probe

“What Noemi is confused about is, where did PLA come from? He (Deng) is not even a university graduate, he is a vocational technical school graduate. He did not graduate from PLA, where did that come from?” she asked.

Ang See asked authorities to conduct an impartial investigation of the case as she criticized how Deng had already been labeled as a spy.

“The case hasn’t even started yet, but due to trial by publicity, you immediately concluded that he is a spy,” she said.

Noemi asked that her husband be given justice, especially because their child has been looking for him.

“We have a child who is eight years old. I am worried about what will happen to our child at school because of reports in the media that claim he is a spy,” she said.

Deng and the Filipinos have been charged with espionage and violating Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Their arrest was prompted by a report from military naval operatives that a group of Chinese nationals, who were supposedly developing driverless vehicles, were doing surveillance work that compromised the country’s national defense.

Deng was suspected of being a mole or “sleeper agent” who had been in the country for five years.

Besa and Fernandez, on the other hand, said they were his driver and assistant. They admitted that they visited military and police headquarters, municipal halls and other local government offices, including power installations like the Malampaya onshore gas plant in Batangas.

(2025/01/28-05:45)