Winning the air war: Countering China’s information manipulation strategyThe “air war” between Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela and the Chinese Embassy’s deputy spokesman has dominated the social media space for the past few days. The International Republican Institute (IRI), a US-based think tank focused on studying Chinese political warfare, has developed a framework to describe the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “Global Influence Strategy.” The IRI categorized them into three pillars of influence: political, economic, and information manipulation. In a paper by the Ateneo Policy Center (APC), scholars studying Chinese political warfare and its national security implications proposed several countermeasures. Designation of a Counter-Political Warfare Coordinator from the National Security Adviser’s office. Our national elections three years from now will be our eventual battleground on information manipulation.

Source: Philippine Star February 14, 2026 09:55 UTC