Malign influencing

Reports that recently arrested alleged Chinese spies had headed local civic groups tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) again highlight the fact that nothing substantial has been done about overt Chinese intelligence operations.

In itself, the cloak and dagger activities of five Chinese men arrested in late January are serious enough. Authorities detained the five men for flying drones over Philippine Navy bases as well as having photos and maps of other sensitive sites when they were arrested.

But it’s the other open but suspicious activities of four of the arrested Chinese men who head local Chinese civic groups that is raising serious concerns about the extent of Chinese foreign malign influence in the country.

Four of the arrested five, according to a recent Reuters investigative report, led the Philippine China Association of Promotion of Peace and Friendship and the Qiaoxing Volunteer Group.

Both groups, reported Reuters, “share a website that advertises their CCP affiliation. Both are overseen by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (ACFROC), a CCP-led body engaged in united front activities Beijing terms influence operations.” The website appears to have been taken down.

But before the website’s takedown it seems these groups not only openly promoted Chinese interests but also had its leaders “rubbing shoulders with prominent Philippine officials (mostly local officials)” and holding regular meetings with a Chinese military attache.

Aside from the four men wining and dining officials, the group also donated funds to Tarlac City and motorcycles to Tarlac and Manila city police.

Now, all these suspicious influence operations by the four men fall under what experts of foreign malign influence operations designate as the “subnational level.”

Chinese foreign malign influence operations happen at the national and legislative levels, and through “direct electoral interference,” says a recent academic study on foreign influence operations by Filipino academics led by retired Admiral Rommel Jude Ong.

The study says “foreign influence operations are an increasingly sophisticated form of soft power used by states to shape political, social, and economic outcomes in other countries.

“These operations are characterized by their often subtle and covert nature, making it challenging to trace them back to their source. One of the most difficult aspects of identifying foreign influence is determining its point of origin. Many such operations are deliberately ambiguous, allowing states to deny involvement while still achieving their objectives.

“In the Philippine context, these operations manifest in various sectors, including the political sphere and information space, raising national security concerns.”

At any rate, at the “subnational level” foreign influence operations take the localized form of engaging with local government units, often through “non-state actors, including Chinese businesses, community organizations, and diaspora networks” which had been co-opted as intermediaries promoting China’s agenda.

While such operations appear harmless, they mask the serious problem of malign “actors often operating in spaces where regulation is weak, making it difficult to discern legitimate activities from covert influence operations.”

Such suspicious covert influence operations have to be effectively countered as soon as possible, since not doing anything “leaves the country exposed to external manipulation.”

To quickly address such security issues head-on, Filipino experts suggest that all national and local government officials understand the specific vulnerabilities to foreign malign influence in their areas of concern.

Both national and local government leaders are thus enjoined to quickly formulate strategies and reforms to detect and mitigate foreign malign influence operations.

Experts insist on these stopgap measures since Congress has yet to come up with a comprehensive foreign interference act, which should hopefully counter foreign malign influence in the country’s domestic affairs.