‘Chinese spy’ mayor arrested in Indonesia deported to the Philippines on private jet

A fugitive mayor accused of being a Chinese spy was deported by Indonesian authorities back to the Philippines.

Alice Guo, the dismissed mayor of Bamban town in Tarlac province, arrived in the Philippines on a private plane accompanied by high-ranking police and government officials early morning on September 6.

The politician was nabbed by Indonesian cops in Tangerang City along the western border of Jakarta in the early hours of September 4.

In a statement, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) said: 'Guo arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at approximately 1:30am on September 6 aboard a special government flight. Her return comes after a swift operation by Philippine immigration authorities in Jakarta, in coordination with their Indonesian counterparts.'

Footage shows Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos escorting Guo in a striped shirt toward the private aircraft leaving Indonesia. Another clip shows her being read her Miranda rights by an immigration officer.

Philippine National Police spokesman Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said Guo underwent a medical check-up before being handed over to the Senate which has an arrest warrant out for her.

Guo claimed she was receiving death threats, prompting the government to charter a private plane to bring her home.

The interior secretary said: 'We told her, do not to be scared. If you are scared for your life, we will provide you with all the security you need. What is important is that you lead us to the big fish. Tell us all of the names involved.'

Guo, also known as the Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, is the subject of multiple money laundering charges filed by Philippine law enforcement agencies.

Her controversial case stemmed from a raid that uncovered a sprawling Chinese online casino built on land she partly owned in Bamban town.

She was being grilled by Philippine senators for allegedly protecting criminal syndicates in the casinos locally known as Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO).

POGOs cater to Chinese gambling clients in the Chinese mainland, but are notorious for being fronts for criminal activity, including fraud and human trafficking. They mushroomed in the Philippines after former President Rodrigo Duterte cultivated close ties with China during his term.

Guo was last seen in public on May 22. She was dismissed by an anti-graft body and soon went into hiding, refusing to appear before the Senate because 'she was traumatised'.

The mayor sparked fury among locals as she later revealed to have slipped past border checks, travelling through Malaysia, Singapore, and finally Indonesia, where she was caught.

Indonesian police were on high alert following the arrest of Guo's foster sister Shiela and their family friend Cassandra Ong, who both accompanied her while fleeing, in Batam on August 20.

Guo, a newcomer in politics, had insisted on her Filipino heritage in interviews with local media. However, fingerprint matches allegedly found that she was Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping, sparking outrage and calls for her ouster.

The controversy comes amid the Philippines' territorial conflicts with China over parts of the South China Sea.

Expansionist China currently lays claim over almost the entire South China Sea, one of the world's busiest sea lanes. But a United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 deemed its claims groundless.

The Communist rogue state - accused of genocide for its crimes against the Uyghur population - has been steadily increasing its influence in recent years through investment in developing countries.