Complaints about supposed Chinese nationals causing inconvenience through acts such as taking off their shirts and defecating in public have been raised on social media by Filipinos.
One Twitter user posted a photograph of a man without a shirt at a popular clothing store.
According to the user, the man photographed shirtless cut in line in order to pay for the shirt, which he had just taken off.
Kanina lang. I queued to the cashier when chinese mainland guy cut thru the line, took off his shirt and paid for it. I felt so invaded even at Uniqlo. pic.twitter.com/T1ZgawigPG
— Papa Cologne (@apoterry) November 4, 2018
The user explained in the thread that he figured out that the shirtless customer was from mainland China when the latter spoke in Mandarin, the language commonly used in the country.
The user also said that most of the staff were caught off-guard by the customer and were thus unable to reprimand him. One member of the staff told him off, but the customer merely ignored the warning.
The account has been included in a collection of complaints against supposed Chinese nationals on social media.
Among the other incidents recounted include that of a Chinese woman photographed letting her young son defecate among the plants in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
The person who posted the photo said that she reported the incident to security personnel in the area.
Others have also shared complaints accusing Chinese nationals of causing public inconvenience or commotion.
In S&R last week a friend said that a bunch of mainlanders wanted to enter S&R without an ID, but the guard said they could not w/o a member ID. They insisted they could enter saying, “we are chinese!” 😡 The nerve of this people! They actually act as if they “own” the country 🤬
— 🇺🇸 Mary🐝Bee 🇵🇭 (@Marybeezzz) November 4, 2018
Chinese influx in the Philippines
The Bureau of Immigration in July 2018 presented data to Philstar.com revealing that around 3.12 million Chinese nationals were allowed to enter the Philippine between January 2016 May 2018.
At least 2.44 million came from mainland China while the others were from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
The same data also revealed that most of the foreigners denied entry into the country were Chinese nationals. A total of 3,722 were barred from 2016 to 2017 while 764 more were barred from January to May in 2018.
An article published by Bloomberg in May 2018 observed that the influx of 100,000 Chinese nationals into Metro Manila has caused real estate property prices to skyrocket.
According to the report, home prices in the area near Manila Bay surged by 27 percent in late 2017, coinciding with the all-time high of 52,600 units sold in Metro Manila that same year.
The Philippines’ gaming industry, according to the report, has attracted a lot of Chinese nationals to the country.
The article also argues that President Rodrigo Duterte’s warmer stance on China despite territorial tensions in the West Philippine Sea is believed to have been conducive to the mass influx of Chinese nationals and investments.
Real estate price surges due to Chinese investors have also been observed in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia.
