The comments follow reports that language instructors in Manila were trained by a Chinese university at the heart of Batanes controversy
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenAlyssa ChenPublished: 8:30pm, 29 Jul 2026Updated: 8:43pm, 29 Jul 2026Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr has urged greater vigilance over academic exchange programmes with China following reports that language teachers in Manila had been trained by a Chinese university at the centre of a recent controversy over the Batanes Islands.Speaking in Manila on Wednesday, Teodoro cautioned that foreign-linked educational initiatives risked being exploited as conduits for grey-zone influence and state-sponsored disinformation.His remarks followed a report on Tuesday claiming that Guangzhou’s Jinan University, affiliated with the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), was the “single largest training site” for Chinese teachers entering Chinese-language schools in the Philippines.The findings published by SeaLight, a maritime transparency initiative, alleged that the university was closely tied to Beijing’s political influence network and that it played a central role alongside other party-backed organisations in shaping Chinese language education in the Philippines through teacher training, curriculum design, language testing and career placement.
“The strongest evidence that there is a problem with this exchange is that it has produced the very institution that is spreading fake news,” he said, according to Philippine media, referring to Jinan University.
