China urges Philippines to act quickly with Chinese detainees

China is asking the Philippines to deal as soon as possible with the detention of Chinese citizens suspected of working illegally for an internet gambling website, Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang said in a daily news conference on Monday.

More than 1,000 Chinese people were detained in a recreational park in the province of Pampanga on Friday during an operation to crack down on illegal internet gambling carried out by the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice, according to the Chinese embassy in the Philippines.

Embassy officials arrived at the scene on Friday night to deal with the incident.

Some of the Chinese people detained have been released, while others are waiting for further questioning, Geng said, expressing concerns over the case.

According to Geng, the Chinese embassy in the Philippines has asked the Philippines to properly accommodate the detainees, speed up the process of verifying their identification and release those with legal identification as soon as possible.

China will continue to closely follow the incident, he said.