The United States is the genuine "empire of lies," the Chinese foreign ministry declared on Saturday, in response to a State Department study accusing Beijing of investing billions of dollars yearly in media manipulation activities.

China is controlling global media through censorship, data collecting, and clandestine acquisitions of international news sites, according to a report released by the US State Department on Thursday.

Despite unprecedented resources allocated to the operation, Beijing had "major setbacks" when targeting democratic nations, owing to local media and civil society pushback, according to the study, which was compiled under a congressional mandate to disclose state information manipulation.

The Chinese ministry expressed that the report disregarded facts and was false.

The US agencies responsible for the report: "were the source of false information and the command post of 'cognitive warfare,'" the ministry expressed, adding that "Facts have repeatedly proven that the United States is the true 'empire of lies'."

The US report comes amid controversy over China's attempts in recent years to increase the global footprint of its government-controlled media. Beijing is seeking to combat the negative images of China it feels are propagated by global media.

Only days ago, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian said the US is reluctant to acknowledge and rectify errors in its dealings with China.

"Washington lacks not channels of communication, but bravery and action to face the facts and correct its mistakes [in cooperation with Beijing]," Wu said.

Despite this, the Spokesperson noted that the military and diplomatic channels of communication between China and the United States have remained open and continue to foster cooperation.

US stirs up trouble in South China Sea

The Philippines earlier announced that it will host this year's joint naval exercise with the United States from October 2-13 as part of mutual efforts to boost military collaboration in the East Asian region.

According to a statement released by the country's armed forces, the exercise activities were designed to further enhance the PN’s naval warfare capabilities as the country’s offshore combat force for maritime security operations. They will cover the fundamentals of anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-air warfare, and electronic warfare. The exercises will include personnel from Japan, Australia, Canada, France, and the UK.

This comes amid renewed tensions between China and the Phillippines in contested landmasses in the South China Sea.

The Global Times said the Philippines escalation in the South China Sea is "obviously driven by US instigation." 

The Chinese newspaper pointed out that the US is seeking a larger military presence in the South China Sea, indicating that it is pushing the Philippines to spur up feuds with China, providing a pretext for US military expansion in the region.