WASHINGTON, D.C. — When veteran United States diplomat Kurt Campbell traveled to the Solomon Islands to counter Beijing's influence in the South Pacific country, he quickly saw just how far China would go to spread its message.

The Asia czar of President Joe Biden's administration woke up one morning in 2022 to a long article in the local press about the US running chemical and biological laboratories in Ukraine, a claim that Washington calls an outright lie. Started by Russia, the false and incendiary claim was vigorously amplified by China's vast overseas propaganda apparatus.