MANILA, Philippines — Airing “Wow China,” a program being aired on state-run Radyo Pilipinas that promotes Chinese culture and history, is “clearly Chinese propaganda,” said Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Hontiveros issued the statement on Wednesday, refuting the claim made by the Philippine Broadcasting System (PBS) that “Wow China” is an “educational program” and is “in no way whatsoever does it espouse or promote a particular political view or cause.”
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The senator pointed out that in one episode in December, the program featured the chair of the Nationalist Filipinos Against Foreign Intervention as its guest, who said that the Philippine government should be “careful” in intervening in the Hong Kong protests, which was happening at the time, as China is a big trading partner.
In episodes aired on April 4, April 25, and May 9, the show included and detailed the aid that China has given to the Philippines in its fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The host of the May 9 episode even said: “Hindi tayo pinababayaan ng mga foreign neighbors natin especially ng China,” she said.
While the PBS revealed that it has agreements with United Kingdom’s BBC and Thailand’s Sawasdee on airing news about their countries, the opposition senator pointed out that these countries are not violating the Philippines’ “sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.”
“Hindi tayo binubully ng mga bansang ito, hindi inaangkin ang mga islang tunay na atin,” Hontiveros said.
(These countries are not bullying us. They are not claiming islands that are ours.)
“It is infuriating that while our government continues to promote all that is well and good about China, albeit using Filipino taxpayers’ money, the Chinese government continues to destroy our reefs, establish new districts in our territory, and harass Filipino fishermen in our own seas,” she added.
“Wow China,” a collaboration of PBS and China Radio International, appears to be airing in the government radio station since mid-2018.
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