BEIJING: China called on the Philippines to catch and severely punish the murderers of a Chinese citizen in a kidnapping case that prompted Beijing’s diplomatic intervention.
The Chinese citizen was killed after being held recently in the Philippines, the Chinese Embassy in the South-East Asian nation said in a statement on Tuesday (July 2). The Chinese mission had urged Philippine authorities to rescue the hostage, and a Chinese American was also murdered, it added.
"We urge the Philippines to strengthen efforts to investigate the case, catch the murderers as soon as possible and severely punish them,” the embassy said in the statement posted on China’s social media platform WeChat. Chinese citizens should "raise their awareness of security” when travelling to the country, it said.
Ties between China and the Philippines were further strained last month after vessels from the two sides had their most serious encounter in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippines sent a diplomatic note to China to seek a dialog with Beijing following the clash, while President Xi Jinping’s government has insisted on its territorial claims to a huge swath of the waters. - Bloomberg
