Philippines accuses China of wanting to interfere in its elections

The Philippine government accused China of trying to interfere in its national elections with the aim of having candidates sympathetic to the communist regime win.

In these votes, to be held on May 12, Filipinos will elect 12 new senators and the new composition of their House of Representatives, as well as thousands of local officials.

During his Senate appearance, Jonathan Malaya, deputy director general of the Philippines' National Security Council (NSC), reported that Manila has "indications" that China is trying to meddle in the elections.

"There are indications that information operations are being conducted that are Chinese state-sponsored in the Philippines and are actually interfering in the forthcoming elections," Malaya said during his hearing in the Senate.

Senator Francis Tolentino countered Malaya's claims. "It’s now very clear: the Chinese government, through its embassy, is paying Filipinos to operate these troll farms to criticize and destroy our administration, our Congress and our government," he said.

"They manufacture fake social media content against the Philippine government’s policy, pretending to be motivated about concerns about peace in the region. What you are doing is wrong, and we will not accept it," Tolentino added.

China defends itself against the accusations

Immediately upon the Philippines' accusations, the communist regime defended itself, assuring that it has "no interest" in swinging the island nation's elections in its favor.

"China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in [other countries'] internal affairs. We have no interest in interfering in the Philippine elections," Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said in a news conference.

China accused the Philippines of "provoking" by conducting military drills in the sea

Separately, the communist regime accused the Philippines of wanting to heighten tensions and of "provoking," after Manila deployed part of its fleet in the South China Sea for joint military exercises with the United States. Exercises that "seriously harm the common interests of the countries in the region," according to Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense.