China urges PH to condemn US drive vs Chinese vax

THE Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it welcomes the Senate inquiry on the alleged smear campaign initiated by Pentagon against Chinese COVID-19 vaccines at the height of the pandemic even as it also called on the Philippines to condemn such move by the United States.

The embassy’s remarks came after the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a public hearing Tuesday to probe a recent report by Reuters claiming that the US military spread disinformation by impersonating Filipinos to discredit Chinese vaccines and anti-epidemic materials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The holding of the above-mentioned hearing by the Philippine Senate is a welcome development. The purpose of this hearing concerns the lives and health of the Filipino people who, together with the rest of the world, have the right to know the truth,” the embassy said.

The embassy said the Pentagon’s move is meant to serve US geopolitical interest of containing Beijing’s rise while disregarding the lives and health of the vast majority of the Filipino people at the height of the pandemic.

“They were detrimental to the common interests of public health worldwide, thus should be unanimously condemned by both Chinese and Philippine people and the rest of the world,” the embassy added.

It said that China took the lead in providing vaccines and anti-epidemic materials to the Philippines, and provided over 57 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including five million doses for free, and considerable amount of anti-epidemic materials to Manila.

It added that these made significant contributions to Manila’s fight against the epidemic.

The Reuters report published on June 14 claimed the Pentagon ran a influence campaign in 2020 and 2021 to denigrate China’s Sinovac vaccine and other pandemic aid from Beijing across the developing world, including the Philippines.

It added that the influence campaign was intended to counter Beijing’s growing influence around the world, including in Southeast Asia.

During the Senate hearing, Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga said the department had contacted the US Embassy in Manila following the publication of the Reuters