By Liz Lagniton | 2026-03-11

A 2025 essay contest for students in Manila's public schools was a "propaganda exercise in disguise, with Japan and Taiwan as the targets," according to an analysis by Ray Powell, executive director of the California-based SeaLight Foundation.

In an article published March 4 by the Diplomat, Powell said the contest, promoted by the Philippine Department of Education's National Capital Region office, appeared to be a government-vetted educational activity but was part of a broader propaganda campaign linked to Beijing's United Front network.

The United Front is a term for pro-Beijing propaganda operations.

The essay contest offered cash prizes for winning pupils and their teachers. It even offered prizes for schools with high participation rates.

Organizers conducted the competition last October as part of commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Students wrote essays on the war and postwar peace. The initiative used memories of imperial Japan's atrocities to advance Chinese Communist Party narratives, including Beijing's "one-China" position on Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan its territory and has repeatedly threatened to seize it by force.

That anti-Japanese messaging contrasts with current Philippine public opinion. In surveys, Filipinos rank Japan as a trusted partner in the West Philippine Sea.

Beijing narrative

The Philippine Chinese Education Research Center (PCERC) and the Philippine Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China co-organized the contest. Both groups belong to the United Front, Powell said.

This network actively promotes the narrative that Taiwan must be "reunified" with China. The PCERC has acknowledged its cooperation with Chinese state bodies, including the United Front Work Department.

The contest pressured students to align their World War II history with Beijing's official narrative, said Powell. That narrative depicts Japan as a persistent aggressor and Taiwan's present-day status as unfinished business from the war.

The political agenda of the contest became clear when the winners appeared at three events in one day in Manila promoting the "one-China" principle. The award ceremony for them effectively became a "United Front rally about Taiwan," said Powell.

In 2015, the PCERC sponsored a similar competition with similar expectations to mark the 70th anniversary of the war's end.

The Chinese embassy in Manila rejected Powell's contentions.

The PCERC organized the essay competition under Philippine government guidance and utilized Filipino scholars as judges, said embassy spokesman Guo Wei.

Calls for transparency

The case illustrates the need for stronger transparency measures to expose foreign political influence operations, said Powell.

"The problem is when a foreign party-state is permitted to ... [conceal] their malign purposes behind a civic façade," Powell wrote.

In a January 31 commentary for the Philippine Star, Powell and retired US diplomat James Carouso issued a warning about foreign interference. Coordinated operations linked to the United Front are busy exploiting civic groups and media channels across the Philippines, they said.

According to the authors, such campaigns represent "sophisticated political warfare aimed at reshaping how Filipinos understand their national interests."

The authors suggested the Philippines adopt transparency measures modeled after Australia's Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. That policy requires organizations acting for foreign governments to disclose their connections.

Transparency measures could expose state-sponsored propaganda campaigns, allow legitimate groups to keep operating and avoid the overkill of banning organizations outright, they said.