This video shows man attacked in southern China, not assault on women in country's northeast
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 18, 2022 at 06:46
- 3 min read
- By Clara IP, AFP Hong Kong
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"Tangshan, CCTV surveillance [footage] from another angle," reads the simplified-Chinese caption of a tweet posted here on June 10, 2022.
The graphic 30-second video appears to show a group beating and kicking a person who is lying prone on the ground. A black car then drives over them.
It has been viewed more than 4,200 times.
The video circulated shortly after footage began to spread online of a vicious assault on a group of women who were dining at a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan, a city in the northeastern province of Hebei.
The attack sparked outrage over predatory sexual behaviour and renewed online debate about sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the country, where the conversation around women's rights has grown in recent years despite pressure from a patriarchal society, internet censorship and patchy legal support.
Authorities said nine people had been arrested on suspicion of violent assault and "provoking trouble".
The video purportedly showing "another angle" of the assault was viewed more than 114,000 times after being shared elsewhere on Twitter here and on Gettr here.
However, it has been shared in a false context.
Zhanjiang attack
A reverse image search on Baidu led to this longer video published in a report by the Chinese news organisation Phoenix Weekly published on Weibo on February 20, 2021.
The post's caption reads: "On the evening of February 19, a video of a fight in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, went viral. The video shows several people beating and kicking the man in white in the head. After the man collapsed, someone drove a black car over him several times.
"According to the Lianjiang City Public Security Bureau, the suspect in the case has been arrested, the victim was confirmed dead after being taken to the hospital, and the case is being investigated further."
Zhanjiang is a city in the southeastern province of Guangdong -- around 2,150 kilometres (1,335 miles) away from Tangshan.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the Phoenix Weekly video (right):
Superimposed text on the Phoenix Weekly describes what is being shown in the video.
It also includes subtitles for an audio clip from an interview with a police officer from the 18-second mark.
The officer tells the reporter that the video is real and the incident is still under investigation.
Local news organisations Fujian Daily and Qingdao News also reported on the incident on February 20, 2021.
The Lianjiang City Public Security Bureau issued a notice on February 20, 2021 that said eight men had been taken in as part of an investigation into the incident.
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