The Chinese government is supporting the Philippines in its crackdown on crimes related to operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) as it reiterates that gambling, whether online or overseas, committed by Chinese citizens is illegal.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said the Chinese government is willing to step up its law enforcement cooperation with the country in order not to "hurt the interests of the Philippines," but also to protect the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the country.

The commitment was made following Huang's meeting with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, with whom he discussed stepping up law enforcement cooperation between China and the Philippines and solving POGO-related crimes.
This came as the Chinese government was informed that most of the recent crimes targeted at Chinese citizens were related to POGOs.
While several Chinese were already rescued and a number of POGO operations have been shut down, the Chinese Embassy in Manila continues to communicate and coordinate with the Philippine law enforcement agencies to address the matter.
"Crimes induced by and associated with online gambling not only harm China’s interests and China-Philippines relations, but also hurt the interests of the Philippines," the Chinese embassy said in a statement.
"The Chinese government protects the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens in accordance with the law anywhere at any time," it added.
During the meeting, Remulla vowed to continue the country's crackdown on illegal POGO activities and help in the deportation of their perpetrators.
"The Philippines and China will firm up cooperation efforts so as to achieve mutually beneficial objectives," the embassy also said.