China accuses US of ‘Malign intentions’ in criticizing its COVID-19 vaccines

• The US military launched a clandestine program to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation in the Philippines.
• The US Embassy in Manila directed a request for comment to its Department of Defense.
• A senior Defense Department official acknowledged the secret propaganda but declined to provide details.

China’s embassy in the Philippines accused the US military of “hypocrisy, malign intention, and double standards” in response to a report revealing a secret US campaign to undermine confidence in Chinese vaccines and other aid during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Manila responded to a Reuters investigative report, which stated that the US military had launched a clandestine program during the COVID pandemic to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation in the Philippines.

The investigation revealed that the US military aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid supplied by China. The military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign through phony Internet accounts impersonating Filipinos, according to the report.

“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,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

“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.”

The US Embassy in Manila directed a request for comment to its Department of Defense.

According to the Reuters 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 spokeswoman was cited in the report as saying the US military “uses a variety of platforms, including social media, to counter those malign influence attacks aimed at the US, allies, and partners.” She also said China had started a “disinformation campaign to falsely blame the United States for the spread of COVID-19.”

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