LAST Monday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that China is planning to build a fleet of up to 20 floating nuclear power plants "that could power military facilities in the South China Sea," attributing the news to a report in The Washington Post. The Washington Post, in turn, attributed the news to "State Department officials" and the recently retired commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. John Aquilino. Aquilino was indirectly quoted as saying that "Chinese state media announced Beijing's intent to use this project to bolster control of the South China Sea."
I'm singling out the Inquirer because it was the only local news outlet to carry the story. Everyone else in the local media market apparently took a moment to actually read the wire report carefully or do a little quick fact-checking. The Washington Post, the unidentified State Department officials and the retired admiral should have done the same, too, but that doesn't let the Inquirer off the hook for spreading misinformation. I'm sure that was not intentional, but the consequences are the same.
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