The US Military Secretly Runs Anti-Vaccine Campaigns During The Peak Of The COVID-19 Pandemic To Overthrow China

Photo illustration. (Doc. Pexels)

JAKARTA - The Reuters news agency has just published a surprising investigative document that uncovered a secret United States military (US) program aimed at imposing China's influence in the Philippines during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This covert operation seeks to spread doubts about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and other medical aid from China.

Launching Reuters on Saturday, June 15, through a fake internet account disguised as a Filipino, US military propaganda turned into an anti-vaccine campaign. They posted negative things on social media about the quality of masks, test kits, and Sinovac vaccines, the first vaccine available in the Philippines.

Reuters also identified at least 300 accounts on X (social media platform previously called Twitter), which is in accordance with this program. The accounts were created in mid-2020 and used the slogan #Chinaangvirus (China is a virus) in Tagalog.

The US military anti-vaccine campaign is said to have started in the spring of 2020 and continues outside Southeast Asia until mid-2021. They use fake accounts on various platforms to scare people in Central Asia and the Middle East, especially Muslims, from using Chinese vaccines. One strategy is to strengthen the doubtful claim that the vaccine may contain pig gelatin, so it is prohibited under Islamic law.

This program began under Donald Trump's administration and continues until Joe Biden's administration. Although social media companies have warned the Biden administration, the campaign was only stopped in mid-2021. United States public health experts criticized the program for endangering civilians for geopolitical gain. They argue that the campaign could actually undermine public trust in government health programs, including later available US-made vaccines.