Beijing’s credibility crisis (1)
“Data showed Filipinos have shifted away from perceiving the Chinese government as a positive influence or model and that they still prefer the United States and other countries as partners.
Washington-based conservative think tank Freedom House had delved deep into the propaganda machinery of the Chinese government amid the country's simmering rift with the Philippines that included efforts to portray it as a better friend than the United States through the dangling of economic gains, but to no avail.
The narratives pushed by the Chinese Communist Party follow the standard propaganda package with a mixture of rapport building, positive promotion of China, and rebuttals of criticisms.
A key narrative that Freedom House cited portrayed China as a better "friend" to the Philippines than the United States, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A common refrain was, "A friend in need is a friend indeed, and time will tell. The pandemic is a test of friendship."
The state-controlled media frequently glorified Chinese vaccine donations to the Philippines while attacking US policies, suggesting, for instance, that the US had politicized investigations into Covid-19's origins.
They then argued that US-China cooperation would benefit the world and that confrontation would cause widespread suffering while glossing over valid criticisms as efforts to antagonize and undermine China.
Similarly, the CCP calls for "win-win cooperation" between China and the Philippines on the West Philippine Sea dispute, emphasizing that the countries' shared interests are far greater than their differences.
Through it all, the Chinese government portrays itself as a good model for governance by touting the alleged successes of its antipoverty programs and the Belt and Road Initiative.
A collateral effort involves undermining its international critics and countering reporting on rights violations in the Xinjiang region and Hong Kong while portraying itself as a model of global cooperation.
"The disinformation campaign had a limited impact due mainly to the strong public skepticism of China," according to Freedom House.
Indeed, a survey on who Filipinos trust most in terms of friendship with a foreign partner showed that the US is the winner, hands down.