Now, China's 'virus diplomacy' backfires, leaves Filipinos angry

Chinese propaganda song to conceal its bullying in the South China Sea and to brandFilipinos involved in the song as traitors did not go well with the Filipinos.

The song released by China’s embassy with the title “Iisang Dagat,” or “One Sea” in the Philippine language, was posted last week on YouTube with the hashtag #CNPHHealAsOne. The video received149,000 dislikes compared with 2,100 likes, while a Change.org petition demanding the video be taken down had more than 8,000 respondents.

“We have to stop the evil of China spreading,” wrote one, Leonard Anthony Arcilla. “We do not unify with China,” said Elna Lynda Acuerdo, while Venus Liwanag said the video was “slapping the faces of each Filipino.”

The song is dedicated to frontline health workers of both countries.

The lyrics include lines like “because of your love that flows like waves hand in hand, we move to a bright future, you and I are in one sea.”

The Philippine response is another indication of China’s coronavirus diplomacy struggling against a history of disputes and mistrust, particularly in Southeast Asia, where its assertive maritime presence and building of islands and military installationshas unnerved neighbours.

The Philippines last week filed diplomatic protests accusing China of locking radar on a Philippine navy boat and rejecting its formation of an administrative unit in disputed areas, following a similar move by Vietnam.