The Philippine national security council is accusing China of running smear campaigns and troll farms to interfere with the country's upcoming midterm elections. While China has denied any involvement, the accusations come amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
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00:00A Senate committee hearing in the Philippines takes an unexpected turn.
00:05What started as a probe into maritime security quickly shifted
00:08to possible foreign interference in the upcoming midterm elections.
00:13There are indications, Mr. Chairman, that information operations are being conducted
00:18that are Chinese state-sponsored in the Philippines and are actually interfering in the forthcoming elections.
00:25This senator says the Chinese embassy in Manila has been paying a local marketing firm
00:30to spread pro-China propaganda online, presenting evidence of money-changing hands from the embassy,
00:37along with what he says is a contract to hire so-called keyboard warriors,
00:43plus a script that appears to guide drill farms on exactly what to post.
00:47The National Security Council says local firms are being used to spread pro-Beijing narratives.
00:53For example, that the ongoing joint U.S.-Philippine-Balikatan military drills are threatening regional peace,
01:02and that new maritime laws are intentionally provoking China.
01:06China, for its part, says it has no interest in spreading such messages.
01:11Relations between the Philippines and China have grown increasingly tense in recent years,
01:25mainly due to disputes over the South China Sea, where both countries have overlapping territorial claims.
01:32Some analysts say these interference accusations could escalate tensions,
01:37especially after both countries recently arrested each other's citizens over alleged spying.
01:43And so this new case of alleged interference by China in the Philippine electoral process
01:51adds up to this hardening public view of the Philippines about China,
01:58and this will not contribute in improving trust between the two sides.
02:03Filipinos abroad have already started voting,
02:06and 70 million more in the Philippines are expected to vote in May.
02:10Twelve Senate seats and thousands of local posts are at stake.
02:14Security officials are now calling for updated safeguard measures
02:18to ensure the elections are free from any form of interference.
02:22Dolphine Chen and Gino Lopez for Taiwan Plus
02:25saying that they are now pairing together until the day that theorean
02:44will be faithful to London.
02:47Welcome to the Governor of Berlin's Police Section Grillot.
02:49I'm going to try this now.
02:49I apologize.
02:50I just apologize.
02:53I'm going to take a moment.
02:54I'm going to take a moment.