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.
The data showed Filipinos have shifted away from perceiving the Chinese government as a positive influence or model and still prefer the United States and other countries as partners.
"Chinese state media succeeded in establishing close ties with President Rodrigo Duterte prior to 2019, leading to the signing of formal media cooperation agreements that are still active. Chinese state media regularly provide content, including inserts, to state broadcaster People's Television Network and major
pro-government Philippine dailies like the Manila Bulletin and the Manila Times. The Philippine Star and Philippine Daily Inquirer, two of the country's most popular outlets, have also published inserts and articles from Chinese state media," Freedom House indicated.
China's minions are always present on social media but have limited user engagement.
"Chinese diplomats and state media have an active presence on social media platforms like Facebook, posting in both Tagalog and English. Some accounts have over 100,000 or even a million followers, though user engagement is limited, and the number of fake accounts should not be underestimated," it said.
China's propaganda blitz also involved subsidized press trips, with at least 36 people from Philippine media taking a subsidized trip to China in 2019, with some participants parroting Chinese state talking points upon their return. These trips were stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Philippines remains vulnerable to disinformation by pro-Beijing actors due to gaps in legal and policy safeguards and public expertise and knowledge on the issue.
"A China-linked disinformation network operated unchecked for months in 2019 until it was identified and removed by Facebook. It included
pro-Duterte messages and received high engagement from the Filipino online community while active," according to Freedom House.
Lack of creativity has been pinpointed as the cause of the propaganda flop.
"Chinese state media have not been successful in influencing television or radio, the two most trusted sources of news for Filipinos, despite the existence of a bilateral state broadcasting cooperation agreement," Freedom House said.
(To be continued)