PHL to implement new policy on controversial Chinese ePassports next week

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 29): PHL to implement new policy on controversial Chinese ePassports next week

The Philippine government will implement its new visa regulation sometime next week for Chinese nationals who will use passports displaying a map that includes an area in the West Philippine Sea, where Beijing is asserting ownership. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Raul Hernandez on Thursday said all concerned agencies such as Philippine diplomatic missions and the Bureau of Immigration will “simultaneously” carry out the new policy aimed at denigrating China's latest attempt to bolster its territorial claim. Hernandez said visa and immigration stamps will be placed on a separate sheet of document given to Chinese visitors entering the Philippines. Manila’s action reinforces its protest against what it calls China’s excessive claim over almost the entire potentially oil-rich South China Sea including areas in the the West Philippine Sea. “This action is being undertaken to avoid the Philippines being misconstrued as legitimizing the 9-dash line every time a Philippine visa is stamped on such Chinese e-passport,” Hernandez said, referring to China’s U-shaped nine-dotted line claim that covers most of the sea and overlaps with Manila's territories.The Philippines move came after Vietnam implemented a similar policy on the new Chinese passports, which Manila called “unacceptable.” Chinese visitors need to apply for a visa to enter the Philippines. Under the new scheme, Philippine visas will be stamped on a visa form to be provided by the DFA’s embassies or consulates abroad to Chinese nationals, Hernandez explained. Immigration officers at Philippine airports, on the other hand, will affix entry stamps on the same document and not on the new Chinese passports, Hernandez said......

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