Skip to main content

Support WBUR

Pentagon spread anti-vaccine propaganda during the COVID pandemic to hurt China

06:28
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

The U.S. military launched a propaganda campaign in the Philippines at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The goal was to spread anti-China and anti-vaccine messaging to undermine China.

The program was stopped in 2021, but public health officials say spreading such propaganda put lives at risk.

Here & Now's Scott Tong talks to Chris Bing, investigative reporter at Reuters, who is one of the reporters who broke this story.

This segment aired on June 18, 2024.

Support WBUR

Support WBUR

Listen Live