"Russia and China Spread Misinformation to Undermine Western Vaccine Trust"

Source: Reuters

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] An analysis has been raised by a European Union (EU) report that Russia and China have been spreading disinformation to undermine the trustworthiness of vaccines from the United States and Europe.

On the 28th (local time), the European External Action Service (EEAS), which oversees the EU's foreign policy, released this report stating, "Since December last year until recently, state-run media in Russia and China have been spreading fake news raising concerns about the safety of vaccines from the US and Europe," adding, "In particular, they created baseless links between European vaccines and deaths to promote the superiority of their own vaccines."

The report cited 100 cases explaining that Russia and China used state-run media, official diplomatic channels, and social network service (SNS) accounts in this process.

According to the report, they focused on spreading false information related to AstraZeneca's vaccine supply issues and side effects of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines.

Russian media, especially to foment division within the EU, even reported that Brexit saved the UK from the EU's vaccine chaos, and it was confirmed that they used the Sputnik V vaccine's Twitter account to spread false information.

Russia denies all such strategies, with Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming that foreign enemies are spreading fake news targeting Russia.

Both Russia and China deny all allegations of disinformation. The report stated that Russia and China's vaccine diplomacy follows a zero-sum game logic, combining distrust and manipulation of Western vaccines.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.