In The Public Square: Who’s promoting pro-Beijing stories in the Philippines?

MANILA, Philippines – A new research report has just dropped—and the findings shed light on how the Chinese government seeks to influence coverage of its development projects in the Philippines. An earlier research report found that Chinese development funding in the Philippines between the years 2000 and 2022 reached an unusually high total of $9.1 billion.

Why is Beijing committing development funds to the Philippines, and how is it trying to shape Philippine public opinion about all this money?

The September 2024 report, “Investing in Narratives,” and the earlier June 2024 report, “Beijing’s Big Bet,” were produced and published by AidDATA, a research lab at William and Mary, a leading public research university in the United States.

In this episode of In The Public Square, Rappler columnist and editorial consultant John Nery is joined by lead author of the June report and an editor of the September study, Samantha Custer. She is director of policy analysis of AidDATA, and also teaches at the Whole of Government Center of Excellence in William and Mary.

Watch the episode on Wednesday, September 11, at 8 pm. – Rappler.com