CHINA REJECTS UN HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION ON MYANMAR JUNTA AND SPANISH-LANGUAGE DISINFORMATION LINKS LOS ANGELES IMMIGRATION PROTESTS TO LATIN AMERICAN LEFTIST REGIMES

June 12-18, 2025 | Issue 22 - Counter Threat Strategic Communications Team

Ludovica Leccese, Giovanni Lamberti, Miruna Moise, Leon Kille, Orane Desilles, Sophia Schultz

Clémence Van Damme, Senior Editor

UN and Chinese Flags[1]

Date: June 12, 2025

Location: New York City, New York, USA

Parties involved: China; Myanmar; Myanmar Military Junta; Myanmar military leadership; Myanmar civilians; UN; UN investigators; states opposing to Western pressure; Russia; Iran; Laos; Cambodia; authoritarian regimes  

The event: China publicly defended Myanmar’s military junta at the UN by rejecting a human rights resolution, calling it politicized and an act of foreign interference.[2]

Analysis & Implications:

• China's messaging at the UN will likely reframe Myanmar's junta as a sovereign government unfairly targeted by external pressure rather than a regime facing human rights concerns, likely reducing international scrutiny. This reframing will very likely gain support among states that oppose Western pressure, such as Russia and Iran, likely creating a protective coalition that shields Myanmar's military government from international accountability measures. Myanmar's military leadership will very likely continue current governance practices without significant policy changes, likely knowing it possesses diplomatic support to deflect international criticism and maintain existing approaches. As Myanmar's government operates with this diplomatic protection, the country's civilian population will likely experience continued restrictions on freedoms with reduced prospects for international advocacy or intervention.

• China's defense of Myanmar's junta at the UN very likely signals the intention to position itself as the central diplomatic and security actor in Southeast Asian conflicts. This positioning very likely allows China to establish precedents that legitimize authoritarian governance models while delegitimizing international accountability frameworks that threaten regime stability. By consistently defending state sovereignty over human rights concerns, China likely creates an alternative normative framework that appeals to governments prioritizing regime preservation over democratic governance. As China promotes sovereignty-based norms through bilateral ties with states, such as Laos and Cambodia, it very likely reduces regional reliance on multilateral mechanisms, likely allowing Beijing to shape conflict resolution and political legitimacy to support its strategic influence.

Date: June 14, 2025

Location: The Americas

Parties involved: US President Donald Trump; USA; far-right US political authorities; American population; Trump’s social media platform Truth Social; Latino communities in the US; Latino protesters in the US; Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo; Mexico; ruling Mexican left-wing political party National Regeneration Movement (Morena); left-wing Latin American governments; Cuban and Venezuelan socialist regimes; China; social media platforms

The event: False Spanish-language social media posts spread misleading claims linking immigration protests in Los Angeles (LA) to leftist Latin American governments.[3] 

Analysis & Implications:              

• Spanish-language disinformation targeting Latino communities will likely continue to serve as a strategic tool to delegitimize Latino-led protests by falsely framing them as foreign-influenced communist threats rather than legitimate civic activism. This framing will very likely shape American public opinion in favor of hardline immigration policies by exploiting historically rooted fears of authoritarianism, such as memories of Cuban or Venezuelan socialist regimes, from Latin American experiences. This disinformation strategy will very likely gain increased effectiveness through inadequate Spanish-language content moderation on social media platforms, where limited oversight allows false narratives to spread unchallenged. As this messaging continues to circulate unchallenged, it will likely normalize suspicion toward Latino civic activism, likely reducing support for inclusive reforms and deepening political marginalization.

• Far-right political authorities in the US will very likely leverage this disinformation effort to justify expanded surveillance of Latin American protestors by framing them as foreign-backed extremists. They will very likely amplify this false narrative by portraying the LA protests as a national security threat, very likely using this narrative to legitimize enhanced surveillance tactics, such as facial recognition, targeting Latino protestors. This national security framing will likely make Americans more receptive to anti-Latino messaging on platforms like Truth Social, almost certainly increasing public support for policing Latino communities. The resulting public backing for enhanced policing will very likely create a self-fulfilling cycle of increased surveillance, likely thriving on distrust and perceived persecution.

• There is a roughly even chance that Trump’s administration will exploit the topic of alleged foreign state interference in the LA protests to achieve its foreign policy objectives. Trump will likely view the claims regarding foreign leaders' involvement, such as Sheinbaum, as an opportunity to justify his strict foreign policy stance regarding Latin American countries led by left-wing governments, such as Mexico’s Morena party. Trump will likely integrate this misinformation into his narrative, very likely aiming to erode domestic trust in leftist Latin American governments through interference accusations that have a roughly even chance of threatening the ruling administrations' legitimacy. Trump’s framing of the protests will likely attempt to pressure weakened leftist governments to shift away from trade partners like China to strengthen their economy, though it is unlikely to coerce states to wholly refocus economic reliance back to the US.

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[1] UN and Chinese flags, generated by a third party image database (created by AI)

[2] China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN, The Irrawaddy, June 2025, https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/china-defends-myanmar-junta-on-human-rights-at-un.html   

[3] Spanish-language misinformation about Los Angeles protests pushes a familiar theme, NBC, June 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/los-angeles-protests-misinformation-spanish-immigration-rcna212862