An engineer works in the general laboratory during a media tour of a new factory built to produce a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at Sinovac, one of 11 Chinese companies approved to carry out clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, in Beijing on September 24, 2020. —photo by Wang Zhao/Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Embassy in Manila condemned the US military’s “hypocrisy, malign intention and double standards” over the latter’s reported secret operation, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation in the Philippines.
“While talking about respecting human rights, the United States does just the opposite regarding the fundamental human rights of life and health of the Filipino people,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said in a statement on Tuesday.
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“People around the world are indignant about the US military’s actions, which lay bare the hypocrisy, malign intention and double standards of the United States,” the spokesperson said.
The embassy was responding to a Reuters investigative report over the weekend, which found that a clandestine operation by the Pentagon was intended to sow doubt on the safety and efficacy of the Sinovac vaccine.
According to the report, the propaganda efforts soon evolved into an antivax campaign using fake internet accounts designed to impersonate Filipinos.
‘Obstruction and sabotage’
The Chinese Embassy noted that China was the first to provide COVID-19 supplies and vaccines to the Philippines since the two countries had been “mutually supportive and cooperative” in fighting the disease.
“However, such cooperation was not as smooth as it was supposed to be. Obstruction and sabotage from a third country and certain forces happened all along,” it said.
The embassy criticized the United States for “exploiting the vulnerability of the Filipino” to advance its “ulterior geopolitical motives.”
“By denying access to Chinese assistance, and in defiance of the global public opinion, the United States dares to spread rumors and spin stories on major global public health issues including the vaccine,” it said.
Reuters, in a follow-up report, said the US Embassy in Manila referred a request for comment to its Department of Defense.
In its investigative report, a senior Defense Department official acknowledged that the US military engaged in secret propaganda to disparage China’s vaccine in the developing world, but the official declined to provide details.
A Pentagon spokesperson was cited in the report as saying that the US military “uses a variety of platforms, including social media, to counter those malign influence attacks aimed at the US, allies, and partners.”
The spokesperson also said China had started a “disinformation campaign to falsely blame the United States for the spread of COVID-19.”