Chinese agents fuelled panic in US by spreading fake warnings, says report

Chinese agents stoked panic in US inthe early days of COVID-19 outbreak by spreading fake warnings, according to a report published in theNew York Times.

The report was based on interviews withsix American officials who denied to reveal their identity.

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The studystates thatoperatives helped spread messages claiming Trump administration would deploy national guard to enforce nationwide quarantine.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security, a commonmessagecirculatedin the early phaseof the pandemic was: ''they will announce this as soon as they have troops in place to help prevent looters and rioters. He said he got the call last night and was told to pack and be prepared for the call today with his dispatch orders.''

Since the disinformation appeared as text messages on the mobile phones of several Americans, the Departmentissued an announcement onTwitter declaring that they were all''fake''.

However, China has denied broader claims that it is involved in misinformation campaigns.

The tactic was especially alarming to intelligence officials becauseseveral of them said they had not seen before.

The findings appear to represent an escalation by foreign powers like Russia and China in trying to capitalise on the panic surrounding the pandemic to sow confusion in the US, and intelligence agencies are taking a new look at how operatives may have exploited the situation.