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At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus. The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation. (Bing and Schectman, 6/14)

Since covid-19 emerged over four years ago in the central city of Wuhan, the Communist Party has made life miserable for those seeking to study the disease and share their findings with the world. Take Zhang Yongzhen, a Chinese virologist whose team sequenced the genome of the virus that causes covid in early 2020. Days later he granted permission for a British scientist to publish the groundbreaking work. This allowed the world to design covid tests and begin developing vaccines. But to party officials, hell-bent on deflecting blame for their missteps in managing the outbreak, it was a betrayal. Dr Zhang’s lab was investigated for wrongdoing. (5/2)

The scientist who led the efforts to develop China’s first anti-Covid vaccine has now been expelled from the parliament and is facing serious charges, reported Hong-based media outlet South China Morning Post. Yang Xiaoming is a veteran researcher and former chairman of China National Biotec Group, a vaccine subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm. It was only under his leadership that China developed Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV vaccine, China’s first coronavirus shot. (4/29)