US military sowed disinformation to undermine trust in Chinese vaccines
- Psyop in the Philippines was subsequently considered legitimate in the strategy of ‘misinformation and propaganda’ against adversary states
In a frank declaration, the document departs from the usual sanctimonious public stance of Washington that those states constantly engage in “disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda”, so they must be countered with objective facts and independent truthful news from reliable Western sources.
Instead, it says the US military needs to employ “disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda” to gain an advantage over such adversaries.
“With appropriate authorities, the Joint Force can weaponise information to manipulate an adversary’s perception of reality by influencing and disrupting social systems and technical connections that are foundational to a modern society,” it said.
“Disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda can trigger a chain of events in an adversary’s society that gradually degrades its domestic unity, undermines societal trust in its government and institutions, and diminishes its international stature.”
Reuters dropped a bombshell at the weekend, titled, “Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic”. “At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus,” it said. At least 300 accounts were identified on X, formerly Twitter, as part of the Pentagon’s disinformation campaign. General Dynamics IT was identified as the military’s primary contractor handling the campaign.
As a “psychological operation, or psyop”, it aimed at China but was carried out mostly in the Philippines and beyond. The real victims were ordinary Filipinos; the Chinese, not so much.
This was a time when the major Western powers refused to share their more advanced mRNA vaccines with the Global South, as opposed to Chinese ones made from more conventional methods, which were nevertheless approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The report said: “[By June 2021,] the Philippines had among the worst inoculation rates in Southeast Asia. Only 2.1 million of its 114 million citizens were fully vaccinated – far short of the government’s target of 70 million … Covid cases exceeded 1.3 million, and almost 24,000 Filipinos had died from the virus. The difficulty in vaccinating the population contributed to the worst death rate in the region.”
Dr Nina Castillo-Carandang was an adviser to the WHO and the Philippines government during the pandemic. She told Reuters: “Why did you do it when people were dying? We were desperate”, adding the US propaganda effort “contributed even more salt into the wound.”
Vaccine scepticism was already widespread in the country not only because many people distrusted the Chinese government, but also because in 2017, French drug maker Sanofi admitted that its Dengvaxia dengue vaccine could worsen the disease following an outbreak.
According to Reuters, “It [the US military] aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China … Through phoney 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.”
If you think this is a one-off, think again. In February, it was announced that General Dynamics IT secured a potential five-year, US$493 million order “to deliver technical and mission support services to the US Special Operations Command.”
That, presumably, includes more psyops.
