Two Chinese envoys shot dead in Philippines; consul-general injured

MANILA (Web Desk) - Two Chinese diplomats have been killed and a third is injured in a gun attack at a restaurant in the central Philippine city of Cebu, police said on Wednesday.

The deputy consul and the finance officer for the Chinese consulate in Cebu were killed, and the consul general was wounded, national police spokesman Wilben Mayor said.

Two Chinese were arrested following the attack, one of whom is the husband of a diplomat at the consulate, the South China Monitoring Post reported.

The other person arrested was a woman who also worked at the embassy, according to Mayor.

He said police retrieved a semi-automatic .45 Colt pistol from the scene.

The attack occurred at 1:30pm (0530 GMT) at a popular Cebu restaurant that serves Filipino food.

A spokeswoman at the Chinese embassy in Manila, Li Lingxiao, said she could not comment immediately.

“Our embassy is still verifying the facts. We’ll update you as soon as I have anything new,” Li said.

Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Charles Jose also said he had no comment, as authorities were still determining what happened.