The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.
Take note and delete the article “Chinese Diplomats Stationed in the Philippines Shot; Two Killed, Consul General Seriously Injured.” (October 22, 2015) [Chinese]
The AFP reports on the October 21 shooting that left two dead and the Chinese Consul General wounded at a Cebu restaurant:
China’s consul general in the Philippines’ second biggest city was wounded and two of his staff members were killed on Wednesday during a lunchtime gun attack at a restaurant, police said.
Two other Chinese at the lunch, a consular officer and her husband, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the shootings, national police spokesman Wilben Mayor told AFP.
[…] Staff at the upmarket restaurant told AFP a group of nine people had gathered in a private room to celebrate the birthday of the consul general, Song Ronghua.
[…] Police identified his dead staff members as Sun Shan, the deputy consul general, and Hui Li, a finance officer.
Banas said the husband and wife were arrested without any resistance. [Source]
A report from the South China Morning Post’s Keira Lu Huang notes that the two suspects have invoked diplomatic immunity:
The two suspects, Guo Jing and her husband, Li Qingliang, have been taken into custody by Cebu police. However both invoked immunity as they claim to be diplomats, according to the police.
[…] “The investigation is ongoing. We have not talked to the suspects or the consul general because we are waiting for an official from the Chinese embassy in Manila who is on his way here now,” [Cebu Police Office director Mariano Batiancela] said.
[…] A senior government official in the Philippines confirmed to the South China Morning Post that the Chinese government has sought full diplomatic immunity for all its staff involved in the investigation.
The official, who asked not to be named, said full diplomatic immunity meant “they are immune from arrest, prosecution and detention, under the Vienna Convention”.
The official said they were awaiting word from the foreign affairs department on whether they could still proceed with questioning suspects and other Chinese consular staff who had witnessed the killings. […] [Source]
The Sina News article ordered for deletion (but still available via Google’s cache) cites foreign media reports on the deadly shooting.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, whothen leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.
