Lithuania sees China disinfo threat in Philippines as mirror of Russia's information war in Europe

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From thousands of miles away, Lithuania is offering to help the Philippines confront a rising tide of cyber threats and disinformation on the West Philippine Sea — warning that tactics used in favor of Beijing mirror the same information warfare Russia has waged in Europe.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene, concluding the first-ever visit by a Lithuanian defense chief to the Philippines, warned Wednesday, July 2, that the hybrid threats both nations face from their larger neighbors are increasingly sophisticated and coordinated.

"It seems that Russia and China sometimes are piloting certain methods in one region and then applying them in another region," Šakaliene told reporters at a press conference.

The Baltic nation has long grappled with hybrid threats from Moscow and sees parallels in the Philippines’ experience countering the distortion of incidents of Beijing’s aggression toward Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, Šakaliene said.

“From what we hear, the Philippines (deals) with Chinese informational activity in the region, and pressure, for example, this gaslighting about the incidents in the West Philippine Sea,” Šakaliene said. “So you also see a lot of disinformation and propaganda.”

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Lithuania has invited the Philippines to upgrade from observer status to full participant in its annual "Amber Mist" cybersecurity exercise this November. Last year, the Philippines only observed the exercise.

"This year, we invited the Philippines to send their team as participants in this exercise. We are hoping that we will have five countries from the region: the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Taiwan," Šakaliene said.

"We are going to share quite practical information because certain cyber attacks that we are facing are quite similar," Šakaliene said. "In certain cases, (this is) a combination of cyber incidents and informational incidents."

Lithuania has also invited the Philippines to participate in the Vilnius Strategic Communications Conference in October 2025, which focuses on information integrity and security.

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Beyond cybersecurity, Šakaliene also pointed to possible cooperation in maritime security. Šakaliene noted that UNCLOS, the international convention covering the world's oceans and seas, falls short in addressing today’s challenges, particularly in protecting critical underwater infrastructure.

"What is happening in the Baltic Sea with critical underwater infrastructure and what is happening with critical underwater infrastructure in your region is quite similar," Šakaliene said.

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