00:00The vaccine war between US and China was real. US ran a psychological campaign against the
00:07Chinese vaccine. Viral report on Pentagon's role in undermining
00:13the vaccine of China. The United States Department of Defense allegedly
00:17ran a psychological operation across the social media platforms with the aim of undermining
00:22confidence in the Chinese-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines.
00:26This controversial campaign spanned over a year, continuing in both the presidency of
00:32Trump and Biden administrations despite objections from some US government officials.
00:37According to an investigation by the Reuters news agency, the operation initially targeted
00:41Philippines in spring 2020 when the country was heavily reliant on the CoronaVac vaccine
00:47produced by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech. The vaccine had been approved for use by the
00:53World Health Organization. However, the Pentagon attempted to discredit the efficacy of the
00:59Chinese vaccine in order to sabotage relations between China and the Philippines.
01:04This is according to the report. Over the time, the effort evolved into a broader
01:10anti-vaccine campaign that raised doubt about the quality of Chinese COVID-19 test kits,
01:15face masks and other medical supplies too. This psychological operation utilized hundreds
01:20of fake social media accounts across multiple platforms, promoting the hashtag ChinaVirus,
01:26which means China is the virus in Tagalog. Social media posts argued that the coronavirus
01:32originated in China and the Chinese-made medical supplies could not be trusted.
01:38By early 2021, the campaign had expanded to the Middle East and Central Asia too. Some
01:44posts falsely claimed that Sinovac vaccine contains pork gelatin, suggesting that Muslims
01:50must not take it as it violates the Islamic law. These tactics raised concern from officials
01:56at the U.S. State Department who objected to meeting with the Pentagon.
02:00Greg Treburton, a former chairman of the National Intelligence Council, which aligns intelligence
02:05work with government policies, stated that getting as much as vaccine in people's arms
02:10as possible would have served U.S. national interest better.
02:14He said that Pentagon's secret operation crossed a line, while a senior Pentagon official
02:19acknowledged a psychological operation that was launched to disparage China's vaccine
02:24in the developing world. They declined to provide further details.
02:29The controversial campaign was ultimately terminated in June 2021.
02:34The revelation highlights how the geopolitical rivalry and tensions between the U.S. and
02:38China spilled over to public health efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as per this
02:43report. Rather than promoting widespread vaccination, the Pentagon allegedly prioritized
02:49undermining the Chinese vaccine in a COVID-19 operation and influence across social media.
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