October 22, 2015 | News
This Wednesday, three Chinese diplomats were shot by fellow colleagues at a restaurant in the Philippines. The shooting happened at 1:30 at a popular restaurant among diplomats, Lighthouse, in Cebu. According to the Restaurant manager Stephen John Patero, the shooting occurred in a private room where the diplomats were having a birthday lunch. Waiters heard the guests shouting in argument and then shots rang out in the restaurant. A man and a woman fled the scene. Deputy Consul-General Sun Shan and finance officer Hui Li were both killed. Consul-General Song Ronghua was wounded and he is now in stable condition at a hospital in Cebu.
The man and the woman seen fleeing the scene have been identified as Li Qingliang, 60, and, Guo Jing, his wife, 57. The two are accredited Chinese diplomats and they have claimed diplomatic immunity, so they will face the legal process only once brought back to China. Embassy spokeswoman Li Lingxao issued a statement saying that the police are still verifying the facts of the attack.
The weapon for the attack, a .45-calibar pistol, was found in the murder scene. The motive for the attack is still unclear and police have quarantined the site. Police Chief Superintendent Prudencio Tom Banas said during a telephone call with the Boston Globe the event “is really tragic. We’re trying to find out what prompted this shooting.”
Security cameras from the restaurant show Mr. Qingliang first shoot the consul-general and his deputy and then shoot the finance officer in the head as she attempted to flee the private room. They were found three kilometers away in their get-away vehicle and were arrested. A security guard from the nearby Mango Hotel said he saw a Chinese man, who was Consul-General Song Ronghua, run out of the restaurant after the shooting. The man said he had been shot and needed help to get to the hospital quickly. Mr. Ronghua decided to take a taxi instead of waiting for the ambulance.