Fabricated report falsely claims Philippines fired at Chinese vessels in South China Sea
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 13, 2023 at 07:26
- Updated on September 13, 2023 at 07:28
- 5 min read
- By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
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"The Philippines fired at Chinese ships entering Scarborough Shoal," reads Tagalog text on the thumbnail of a YouTube video shared on August 13, referring to a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea that Beijing seized from Manila in 2012 after a tense standoff.
The thumbnail shows an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as ships that appear to be carrying the Philippine and Chinese flags, with missiles launched from the Philippine vessel.
"Breaking news: Philippine Navy fires warning shot against Chinese who refuse to listen," says a man narrating the video in Tagalog.
It claims a Philippine Navy ship blocked eight Chinese fishing boats that were "doing something illegal" in the waters of Scarborough Shoal on August 9.
"After it fired a warning shot, the Philippine Navy attempted to get close to the boats to make an arrest. However, Chinese maritime surveillance vessels intervened, which effectively blocked any attempts to make an arrest."
The first half of the video shows several clips of military ships and an explosion, while the rest discusses reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for war preparations.
The video has more than 160,000 views. It was also shared here, here and here on Facebook.
Fabricated report
The video was posted on a YouTube channel that previously shared another fabricated report about the territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea.
China claims almost the entire sea, ignoring an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei all have overlapping claims to parts of it.
Beijing deploys hundreds of vessels to patrol the region. Manila says China's coast guard and navy ships routinely block or shadow Philippine boats in the contested waters.
Responding to the video's claim, a representative for the public affairs office of the Philippine Navy told AFP on August 24: "No such thing happened."
The Chinese embassy in the Philippines did not respond to a query from AFP.
While genuine news reports documented tense moments in the South China Sea in August, no account says the Philippine Navy fired at Chinese fishing boats at Scarborough Shoal -- which lies around 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the main Philippine island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometres (560 miles) from the nearest major Chinese landmass, Hainan island.
The video's narration features details that resemble a standoff between Manila and Beijing over Scarborough Shoal in 2012.
"The Scarborough Shoal dispute started on April 8 when the Philippines found the eight Chinese fishing boats in the area, which the Philippines claims as its territory," AFP reported at that time.
"A Philippine navy warship was deployed there to arrest the Chinese fishermen for illegal poaching, but China sent three civilian surveillance vessels and took turns blocking the ship."
China took effective control of the shoal after the 2012 standoff.
In 2013, the Philippines filed an international arbitration case over the South China Sea dispute. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that Beijing's claim held no legal basis. China refused to take part in the proceedings and has ignored the judgement.
Misused clips
A reverse image search found the video's thumbnail has been altered to add the Chinese and Philippine flags. The original photo actually shows a US Navy missile destroyer (archive link).
The genuine image, published by the United States Naval Institute in 2015, was captioned: "A Raytheon SM-2 Block IIIA guided missile explodes over USS The Sullivans during a training exercise on July 18, 2015."
Below is a screenshot comparison between the video's thumbnail (left) and the original picture (right):
Footage of missiles fired from a ship at the video's 1:09 mark corresponds to a segment published on May 22, 2023 by CCTV+, the video news agency of state broadcaster China Central Television (archived link).
This video, which was also posted on the agency's YouTube channel, shows a military drill by a Chinese battleship fleet "to test new combat tactics" (archived link).
The drills were conducted at an unspecified location in the South China Sea.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the footage of missiles in the fabricated report (left) and the corresponding section in the CCTV+ video (right):
Another clip showing burning ships at the video's 1:59 mark resembles photos published in news articles of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig after it exploded in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill that followed this blast remains the largest in the history of marine oil drilling operations, according to the US government (archived link).
This footage originally appeared in a documentary about the spill titled "The Great Invisible" released in 2014 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the clip of burning ships in the false video (left) and the trailer for the documentary (right):
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