Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian —Agence FRance-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — The United States “chooses to ignore facts” and spreads vilification against a country it wants “to contain or suppress,” China’s foreign ministry claimed on Monday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the claim when asked about a Reuters expose revealing the secret anti-inoculation campaign by the US Pentagon during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“We noted the report. Facts have shown time and again that the US has persistently manipulated social media to spread disinformation, poison public opinion, and vilify other countries’ image. We firmly oppose it,” Lin said in a press conference.
“Put simply, when the US wants to contain and suppress a country, it chooses to ignore the facts and truth and launches smears and vilification through coordination,” he added.
The special report claimed that the anti-vaccine effort began in 2020, “expanded beyond Southeast Asia before it was terminated in mid-2021,” and used “a combination of fake social media accounts on multiple platforms to spread fear of China’s vaccines.”
Anti-vax campaign
“Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits, and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines—China’s Sinovac inoculation,” Reuters said.
Lin pointed out that the approach was also visible or launched against its campaign of fabricating and disseminating disinformation about Chinese-made vaccines, but also in the Belt and Road Initiative—a program for Chinese companies to build transportation, energy, and other infrastructure overseas—and its new energy vehicle.
“The list goes on. Such practices by no means show the US’s ‘power’ and only reveal its obsession with supremacy and hypocrisy. The international community needs to be clear-eyed about this,” he said.
“A big country should behave in a manner befitting its status. We hope that the US will right its mindset, shoulder its due responsibilities as a major country, and stop propagating disinformation against other countries,” he added.
Upon hearing the report, Department of Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo earlier said that the issue “must be probed and heard by the appropriate authorities of the involved countries.”
Domingo, however, pointed out that “vaccination decisions among Filipinos are determined by their age, educational attainment, health insurance, employer requirement, high awareness of the disease, and a high level of vaccine confidence,” citing a study published under the scientific journal BMC Public Health.