Rob York

Opinion | No good reason for US to spread anti-vax rumours in the Philippines

Whatever one thinks of the Sinovac jab, it is unconscionable to undermine public confidence towards vaccines in a partner country during a pandemic

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Why you can trust SCMP

Rodrigo Duterte, then president of the Philippines, receives a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine at the presidential palace in Manila on May 3, 2021, to encourage more Filippinos to get vaccinated amid the pandemic. Photo: Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP

Rob York

Published: 5:30am, 23 Jun 2024

America’s reputation has been bruised in many parts of the world due to its actions, from destabilising uncooperative governments, overruling the mandate of newly elected foreign leaders and, in extreme cases, invading other countries.

In recent years, its position has improved somewhat, not so much by its own doing but by those of its competitors and adversaries, which have shown they are not above pressuring foreign leaders, threatening outright hostilities or, as with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making good on those threats.

The actions of Russia and China, for instance, help to show that while America’s reach and means may be unique among so-called global powers, its inability to mind its own business is sadly typical.

This streak of default good publicity had to end at some point, and recent allegations that the US ran a covert campaign to encourage scepticism in the Philippines towards Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic constitutes a clear embarrassment.

According to the June 14 Reuters report, the secretive initiative, launched in the waning days of the Trump administration, intended to erode confidence among the Philippine public towards vaccines – not just Chinese-made Sinovac jabs but vaccines in general. “COVID came from China and the VACCINE also came from China, don’t trust China!” one such tweet read in Tagalog.

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First, it must be reiterated that this was a Trump administration initiative that the Biden administration discontinued in early 2021. Second, there will certainly be attempts by Donald Trump’s supporters and other foreign policy “realists” to dismiss the ethical concerns related to such measures, arguing that Chinese influence in the Philippines was harmful under the dovish administration of Rodrigo Duterte.