After using water cannons, ramming and lasers, China is now increasingly confronting the Philippines in the realm of information and public perception, a senior Philippine Navy official said Saturday.

Philippine Navy Inspector General Vice Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said the country faces what he described as cognitive or information warfare.

The tensions come amid continuing disputes between Manila and Beijing over Chinese incursions in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels have repeatedly harassed Philippine ships near disputed features, including Ayungin and Bajo de Masinloc.

Trinidad’s remarks followed the arrest of four individuals allegedly involved in espionage activities linked to Chinese informants concerning government information and military tactics uncovered Thursday.

He identified the suspects as Lawrence, Allison, Danny and Charles, whom he said had established links with several foreign personnel.

The Navy official said investigations conducted by government agencies were not part of a smear campaign against China but were based on actual evidence and confessions.

Cognitive domain

“What was being said earlier that this is a smear campaign or just made up — these are real people. We have real confessions and all the reports and tracking,” Trinidad said.

“There is a pattern when it comes to attempts to infiltrate the cognitive domain of Filipinos, attempts to subtly extract information from us,” he added.

The Chinese Embassy on Friday denied the allegations and dismissed the claims as fabricated.

“We firmly oppose and strongly deplore irresponsible remarks made by certain Philippine agencies peddling so-called ‘Chinese spy’ narratives. China follows the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs,” embassy spokesperson Ji Lingpeng said.

Trinidad maintained that such tactics are part of efforts to influence public perception through disinformation.

“We are bringing this out in the open because the Filipino people need to be aware that part of the stagecraft of the Chinese Communist Party is to co-opt our mindset,” he said.