The undercover campaign, also first reported by Reuters citing former US military officials, reportedly started in the Philippines before spreading to other Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The US campaign reportedly used fake social media accounts impersonating locals to spread misinformation about the Sinovac vaccine and doubt the effectiveness of tests and masks coming from China.
Rather than being based on any real concerns about Sinovac or the effectiveness of Chinese masks and tests, the campaign was reportedly designed to lessen Chinese influence in those countries.
“There was a global shortage of vaccines and PPE at the time, and China's Sinovac was the only one available at the time. And so, what this resulted in is probably tens of thousands of excess deaths in the Philippines and possibly, you know, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, around the world,” argued peace activist and writer KJ Noh on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour.
“Just to look at the numbers, you know, when they started this campaign. Let's go back to April 2020, they had about 20 new cases a day and 315 total deaths. A year later, in the summer, they had 400 people dying every day in the Philippines and over 38,000 deaths. So, I mean, that's a death toll comparable to waging a major war,” Noh argued.
The Philippines was among the worst-hit countries in the region during the COVID-19 pandemic, and authorities had difficulties getting people vaccinated. According to Reuters, Filipino Senator and chair of the Foreign Relations Committee Imee Marcos and House Representative France Castro filed resolutions in the Philippine Congress earlier this week that will initiate a probe for an investigation into the allegations.
According to Reuters, the inquiry will be designed to “determine the ramifications of the actions of the US Military, any potential breach of international law by the United States of America, and the possible legal recourse available to the Philippines, considering that such [an] anti-vax and misinformation campaign threatens national security.”
The United States has been trying to strengthen its military cooperation with the Philippines, in part to challenge China in the South China Sea. In 2014, the US and the Philippines signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (ECDA), which gave the US control of five military bases in the Philippines in 2016 and another four under an expansion in 2023. In March, US President Joe Biden hosted his counterparts from the Philippines and Japan for the first “trilateral US-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit.”
It is not clear how or if the allegations will affect that relationship. The EDCA can be canceled by either party with a one-year notice.
“It's very similar to what happened to Nord Stream. No matter what happens to our 'ally,' we don't care about what those costs are,” said Noh. “The US, you know, never ceases to astound in the kind of depravity that it seems to stoop to.”