Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday called on Beijing to take action against Chinese citizens involved in trafficking drugs to Manila as part of his ongoing war on illegal drugs.

Duterte issued the statement after police raided a drug laboratory in Pampanga province where the president said illegal drugs were being manufactured using materials from China.

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Duterte said many Chinese criminals are in cahoots with Philippine drug syndicates in their illegal trade. He claims that the materials being used to manufacture the illegal drugs all came from Beijing.

Chinese drug lords

"So we want them also to control their people and increase the focus on their criminals," he said. "If you consider us your friend, you want to help us, but most of the materials, all of it, and the machines and the boilers, are from China. What does that mean?"

Duterte had earlier pointed to Chinese drug lords as the people behind the illegal drug trade in the Philippines.

Death toll

Since Duterte assumed the presidency three months ago, more than 3,000 people have been killed in his crackdown on illegal drugs.

The United Nations and the international community have criticized Duterte for these extrajudicial killings.

The criticisms angered Duterte and on Thursday, as he hurled insults anew on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the European Union for interfering in his ongoing war on drugs.

UN

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay told the UN on Saturday that Duterte had the "unprecedented" mandate of the Filipinos and that the world should not interfere in his campaign to rid Manila of illegal drugs.

In a speech delivered before the United Nations General Assembly, Yasay said Duterte has vowed to rid the country of corruption and other "stagnating practices" which include drug trafficking and drug use.

"Our actions, however, have grabbed both the national headlines and international attention for all the wrong reasons," Yasay said.

He urged the international community to give President Duterte the leeway to tackle domestic issues without outside interference. 

TagsChinese drug lords, Philippine war on drugs, drug traffickers, human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, Philippines, china