THE Association to Promote Philippines – China Understanding (APCU) denounced a fake report by Reuters last October 6 implying the organization is connected to the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The report, bylined by Poppy McPherson and Karen Lema and titled, ‘How China waged an Infowar against US interest in the Philippines,’ also put malice in the effort of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to foster broader people-to-people understanding between Filipinos and Chinese by claiming Arroyo “re-established” the APCU with the help of an unnamed “Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agency that the U.S. previously accused of ‘co-opting subnational governments.”
At a press briefing last October 21, APCU officials led by Chairman Atty. Raul Lambino, President Sixto Benedicto, Vice President Adolfo ‘ Ka Ado’ Paglinawan and Director Mafee Cai, described the Reuters smear job as a “syndicated international press release” and part of a “dangerous game of geopolitics.”
Prior to its formal incorporation in 1974, the APCU has been instrumental in the effort to foster closer understanding between the Philippines and mainland China.
During one of the worst floods to inundate the country in the early ‘70s under President Marcos Senior, mainland China, despite being more backward than the Philippines at the time, sent volumes of aid thru the effort of the APCU.
It also worked closely with Marcos Senior in successfully establishing the Philippines’ formal diplomatic relations with China highlighted by his state visit to Beijing in June 1975 with his First Family as part of the entourage. The delegation includes President ‘Bongbong’ Marcos who is just a teenager at the time.
Lambino acknowledged the APCU basically “hibernated” during the early part of the PNoy Aquino presidency but turned active again starting in 2019 under the stewardship of business leaders Renato Velasco and Jeffrey Ng.
Among APCU’s core activities to promote deeper understanding between Filipinos and Chinese include:
Student and People Exchange Programs: Sending Filipino students to China and hosting Chinese youth in the Philippines.
Academic Outreach: Establishing Philippine Studies Centers in China.
Bilateral Recognition: Creating the APCU Awards for Philippines and China Understanding.
Lambino defended the APCU Awards against the allegation that they are used as propaganda for China, insisting that the selection of awardees is not influenced by political personalities.
“APCU was never accused of being an affiliate of the PROC [People’s Republic of China],” Lambino stressed and called on Reuters to “come up with your correction.”
He also framed the report as a “geopolitical struggle,” accusing certain actors of “playing geopolitics not in the interest of the Philippines, but in the interest of America.”
He also stressed: “APCU is not anti-America. We are pro-Philippines.”
Paglinawan, who also heads the APCU Institute, echoed Lambino and added he was “never” interviewed by Reuters beforehand.
“I’ll stand my ground on this because this is all lies,” he said.
He demanded that Reuters instead investigate individuals he claimed are receiving millions of dollars from the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
A history of taking money from US Government
The attack against APCU to demonize China by the mainstream Western media is no longer a surprise as ‘China-bashing’ has become a lucrative effort.
The US Congress in 2024 passed the ‘Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act of 2023.’ This law allocated $325 million (about P18.85 billion in current exchange rate) each year until 2027 to counter China’s influence through the media, civil society groups and anti-corruption initiatives worldwide.
The disbursement of the money is to be coursed thru the State Department, which is also the administrator of the NED, the legal front of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The NED is being accused of being behind the destabilization and regime change operations (thru Color Revolutions) of countries accused of going against America’s interests such as China.
Last February, a month after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the Times Of India (TOI), quoting various sources, named Reuters, Associated Press, BBC, Politico, the New York Times, and Internews as among the major Western news outlets that have received funding and subsidies from a variety of US government agencies including USAID, NASA, and the Department of Defense (now the Department of War).
The TOI said Reuters, thru its subsidiary, Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS), received $9 million from the DoW’s DARPA (Defense Advance Research Projects Agency), ostensibly for evaluating “defensive tools and not newsroom activities.”
The Associated Press (AP) was getting $500,000 each year but this was stopped after it was discovered by billionaire Elon Musk during his term as head of the ‘DOGE’ (Department of Government Efficiency).
Musk also branded the New York Times as “government funded media” after finding out that the newspaper received $2.6 million from various US government agencies between 2008 and 2014.
Britain’s BBC also got 2.6 million pounds ($3.2 million) from USAID until 2011 to support media-related activities covering 30 countries.
Politico received a total of $32.5 million from various US government departments including NASA in exchange for “research services” while the biggest beneficiary is Internews, purportedly a news wire service.
Internews was receiving $404 million since 2008, also for its various media-related activities worldwide.