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Cloaked in the academic mantle of a Stanford‑affiliated "think‑tank" but operated by retired US military officers; dispatching no warships but endlessly churning out provocation scripts in the South China Sea, and shifting from choreographing footage of maritime stand‑offs to meddling in legitimate China‑Philippine cultural and academic exchanges, the SeaLight has loomed behind numerous China‑Philippine maritime frictions over the past years.
The true nature of the SeaLight, once stripped of disguise, is a well‑orchestrated cognitive‑war tool targeting China. It delivers strategies, provides talking points, furnishes intelligence and cultivates proxies, weaponizing both maritime confrontations and people‑to‑people exchanges to deliberately stir up tensions in the South China Sea.
A cognitive‑war platform
Public information indicates that SeaLight is affiliated with Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, established in 2021 with sponsorship from the US Office of Naval Research and funding from the US Department of Defense. The funding sources amounted to approximately $12.8 million.
Public records indicate that SeaLight's "director" Ray Powell served 35 years in the US Air Force, including posts in the Philippines, Japan, Germany, and Qatar. In 2022, following his departure from overseas service, he launched "Project Myoushu," which evolved into "SeaLight" in 2023.
When Global Times reporter browsed SeaLight's website, multiple unprofessional features of this self‑proclaimed "think‑tank" came to light. Aside from its "director" Powell, the team counts merely three other members, one of whom is a web developer.
Even so, this same "think tank" smeared China's lawful actions to safeguard sovereignty in the South China Sea on its website as the world's "most expansive and aggressive maritime gray‑zone programs."
In February this year, Guo Wei, Deputy Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, wrote in an X post that as a US-based organization, SeaLight maintains "an unusually concentrated focus on the South China Sea." It has reacted to maritime developments with remarkable speed, at times even preceding official statements from Philippine authorities.
"Why does SeaLight concentrate so heavily on this specific region? Through what channels does a US-based entity obtain rapid access to satellite imagery and operational information located thousands of kilometers away?" Guo asked.
A Manila‑based source told the Global Times on Friday that SeaLight maintains close‑knit, in‑depth coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard. The two sides sustain long‑term information exchange and intelligence‑sharing, forming a collaborative model through which the Philippines provokes maritime incidents at sea, SeaLight assigns public‑narrative framing, and social media platforms amplify the hype, to stage targeted cognitive‑war games against China.
Billed as a research institute, SeaLight is essentially a China‑targeting cognitive‑war platform centered on a small group of individuals, supplying the Philippines with policy advice, intelligence inputs and public‑narration talking points, Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.
In addition, it serves as a megaphone for the Philippines, churning out disinformation across social‑media platforms to viciously smear China and fabricate the "China threat" narrative, courting international attention in a deliberate bid to stoke regional tensions, Chen added.
"An ex-US Air Force colonel is now running the show in Philippine foreign relations," Rod Kapunan, a columnist for the Philippines' daily newspaper The Standard, wrote in his article in 2024. He further described Powell as the author of the "transparency strategy," which Philippine officials took as "Philippine policy."
"SeaLight hides its main objective, which is to apply the 'missing context fallacy' to create an anti-China narrative out of the South China Sea territorial claims disputes amongst the five littoral states surrounding the strategically critical body of water," Kapunan said in the article.
"Still, its China‑focused cognitive warfare yields diminishing marginal returns," said Chen, "Repeated lies fail to convince the public. For this reason, it keeps hunting for new material for attacks, yet it can never create any major ripples."
Back in September 2024, an article in The Diplomat titled "The Philippines Should Take Note: 'Assertive Transparency' Is Not a Strategy" noted that it was in 2023, "spurred on by the likes Raymond Powell and the folks at Project Myoushu, that the Philippines began publicizing maritime incidents in the South China Sea." However, what Philippine authorities need to understand is that "assertive transparency" has reached its saturation point.
The second battlefield
For a long period, SeaLight fought its main battles on South China Sea waters, guiding the Philippines to hype stand‑offs and fabricate the false "China bullying the Philippines" narrative. Lately, however, it has shifted its battlefield, targeting normal China‑Philippine cultural and academic people‑to‑people exchanges.
Last month, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called for greater scrutiny of foreign academic and cultural exchange programs with China, in response to a SeaLight report that claimed China's Jinan University has become the main broker between China's institutions and Chinese-language schools in the Philippines.
This incident directly forced the cancellation of a three‑week‑long field research trip to the Philippines scheduled for August 4 by Dai Fan, Director of the Center for Philippine Studies at Jinan University.
Dai told the Global Times on Friday that this incident lays bare the fact that SeaLight is by no means a rigorous, neutral academic‑research platform. Instead, it follows a propaganda playbook where conclusions come first and evidence is cobbled together afterwards.
Nevertheless, this simplistic and heavy‑handed narrative is highly deceptive and manipulative in the public opinion arena. It can easily mislead the Philippine public and foster one‑sided perceptions, Dai added.
In an X post on August 2, the Chinese Embassy in Manila further pointed out that the incident marks Ray Powell's "second battlefield" against China, from maritime disputes to civil society.
"His broader objective appears clear: to encourage the Philippines to view nearly every interaction with China through the lens of strategic confrontation, gradually transforming the country into a frontline state in Washington's competition with Beijing. The ultimate goal is to systematically turn the Philippines into a 'proxy battlefield' for containing China," reads the embassy's X post.
The latest report released by SeaLight was immediately echoed by Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro, underscoring the close collusion between the two sides, Chen noted.
Based on long‑term observations by a Global Times source based in the Philippines, SeaLight, the Philippine Coast Guard and pro‑US, anti‑China hard‑line forces in the country have forged an interconnected chain. They have long sought to push for amendments and upgrades to the Philippines' anti‑espionage law and advance legislation for the so‑called "proxy bill," aiming to establish a systematic, institutionalized anti‑China mechanism.
According to Chen, there is a strong likelihood that Philippine authorities provide financial backing for SeaLight's China‑focused cognitive‑war operations. Meanwhile, Powell and SeaLight have become a key instrument for the Philippine military to secure budget appropriations from Congress.
This strategy creates a sinister closed‑interest loop: stoking maritime frictions, whipping up domestic public sentiment, and pressuring Congress to divert livelihood‑related budgets to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). The tenser the maritime situation, the more resources flow to the PCG. By contrast, calm seas strip the force of its rationale for expansion, Chen said.
According to Chen, this opportunistic hype‑driven model adopted by the Philippine side in collusion with SeaLight will ultimately backfire. The South China Sea disputes could have been managed through dialogue to share marine and fishery resources and deliver mutually beneficial outcomes. However, SeaLight keeps stoking conflicts and amplifying divisions, severely undermining the Philippines' environment for peaceful development, at the expense of the Filipino people's vital interests.
Regional countries ought to see through the true nature of such external "think‑tank" projects. They should recognize the harm these entities inflict on regional well‑being, peace and stability by artificially orchestrating public opinion storms over the South China Sea, said Chen.
The Philippines' ill-judged farce of provoking China will sooner or later end in tragedy for itself, Chen warned.
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B | PHILADELPHIA -- Spencer Strider could not watch Nick Castellanos' second home run off him in Game 4. The 20-game winner simply accepted his fate — he gave the ball to Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker and awaited a reception almost as rude as the homers.Strider put his head down and walked toward the dugout as 45,000 fired-up, towel-waving Phillies fans — that had heckled and derisively chanted his name since he warmed up — pointed fingers at the pitcher and gave him the business one more time.Strider never broke stride, never looked up. If he had, Strider might have read the sign that read “Bye-Bye Strider.”It was soon bye-bye Braves — once again an October departure in Philly.When the bats in a lineup that hit 307 homers this season fell silent, so did Atlanta in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Thursday night.“You look at the playoff format, you don't need to be a great team all year,” Strider said. “You need to get to the playoffs and then it's a different game.”One the Braves haven't yet mastered.A year after the 101-win Braves were eliminated in Game 4 in Philly, this season's 104-win edition suffered the same cruel fate. They scored a total of eight runs in the series.“Pretty much just told them they have nothing to hang their heads about. It stinks what just happened,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We wanted to go deep into this postseason, but I said it my first meeting every year, it’s like we want to check the first box, win the division because you never know what might happen. And we hit 300 some homers and didn’t happen in this playoff series.”Maybe it was the short break from the regular season to the start of the NLDS that cooled off the Braves. Ronald Acuña Jr., one of the front-runners for NL MVP, was 2 for 14 in the four games. Marcell Ozuna and Orlando Arcia each went 2 for 13. Michael Harris II went hitless in 13 at-bats.Austin Riley homered in the fourth inning of Game 4, but that was it for the Braves.Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, Atlanta loaded the bases on three two-out walks. Craig Kimbrel then retired Acuña on a deep fly ball that was run down by rookie center fielder Johan Rojas.Rally, over.Strider allowed two homers to Castellanos, a go-ahead shot to Trea Turner — who entered 0 for 17 lifetime against Strider — struck out seven and threw 96 pitches in 5 2/3 innings.“They didn't have a cheat code,” Strider said. “If you ask them, I'm sure they'll tell you I hung a couple of sliders.”Just one month earlier, the Braves took three of four and clinched their sixth straight NL East title in Philadelphia. The Braves went 8-5 against the Phillies in the regular season.Those numbers were as empty as the Braves offense.The franchise that put together an unprecedented streak of 14 straight division titles in the 1990s and 2000s tried for one more memorable run just two seasons removed from winning a World Series.But outside of a fantastic Game 2 rally, little went right for the Braves.Phillies fans had saved the worst for Strider, who is 8-0 in the regular season against the Phillies and a disaster in the postseason against them. Phillies fans chanted “We Want Strider” in Game 3, and then reserved their loudest pregame boos for him in Game 4.Strider, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, had said in an interview “there should be no fans” at the ballgame.“Get rid of the fans, it’s too loud,” he told MLB Fits. “It’s too loud, everybody be quiet. We don’t need the cheering, we know you’re watching. I don’t need the fans.”Joking or not, the Phillies needed little incentive to jump all over the ace right-hander. Some fans wore T-shirts that read “Is This Too Loud For You Spencer?” and others held signs with the same message.It was part of quirky series overall for the Braves.The social media user behind the account for the mascot Blooper oddly took aim on the Phillie Phanatic, writing “his last highlight was recorded with a flash.” Phillies fans spent the rest of the remaining games roasting Blooper.But Blooper was far from the only error.After Philadelphia star Bryce Harper committed a baserunning blunder that closed out Atlanta's Game 2 win, Arcia cracked “Attaboy, Harper!” inside of the Braves' jubilant clubhouse. Harper responded with two homers in Game 3, staring at the shortstop as he rounded the bases after each drive.Atlanta joins this year's list of playoff teams that tore through the regular season only to flop in October. The teams with the five best regular-season records — the Braves, Baltimore (101 wins), Dodgers (100), Tampa Bay (99) and Milwaukee (92) — all failed to reach the LCS.“We got beat and didn’t play good enough to win the series. It’s as simple as that,” Snitker said. “We got beat by a really good club that has a penchant for it this time of year.”___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb。
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