Video does not show foreign minister of Myanmar's shadow government being deported from Japan

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on December 29, 2023 at 09:42
  • 3 min read
  • By AFP Thailand

Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.

A TikTok video viewed tens of thousands of times has been shared alongside a false claim that it shows the foreign minister of Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG) -- a shadow administration maintained by officials removed from power in the country's 2021 coup -- being deported from Japan in November 2023. The claim circulated online following the visit of NUG foreign minister Zin Mar Aung to Japan and her meetings with the Burmese community there. A Japanese official has told AFP she was not deported. A representative for the NUG and the TikTok user who shot the original video also said the people around her were in fact guards who escorted her.

The six-second video was shared here on Facebook on November 29, 2023. It has been viewed 5,100 times.

The Burmese-language caption of the video reads: "Good news! Japanese secret service police arrested and deported Zin Mar Aung, who is a leader of the terrorist NUG government, while she was giving a speech in Japan."

Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 27, 2023

The video was also shared here on a pro-military Telegram channel named Kyaw Swar on November 28, 2023 and has been viewed more than 70,800 times.

The channel has posted leaked information on anti-coup activists in the past and urged junta forces to arrest them.

Similar claims were also shared here in Telegram and in multiple Facebook posts here, here, here and here.

The NUG is a shadow administration formed by lawmakers exiled following the 2021 military coup. The Myanmar junta has designated it a "terrorist" group, AFP reported.

However, the claim is false.

Visit to Japan

A Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of Myanmar affairs told AFP on December 20 that it was "not true" that the Japanese government deported Zin Mar Aung from the country.

A representative from Zin Mar Aung's office also refuted the claim as the trip occurred after "an invitation and approval from the Japanese side" and that it went "smoothly".

"The individuals around the Minister were security personnel arranged by the NUG Representative Office," the representative told AFP on December 26.

A longer version of the video was posted on TikTok on November 26, 2023 with a caption saying it shows Zin Mar Aung meeting Burmese people in Japan (archived link).

The caption of the video reads: "The meeting with Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung. Revolution must win."

The person who uploaded the video told AFP on December 21 that he attended the meeting and filmed the clip there.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the false Telegram video (left) and the TikTok video (right):

Screenshot comparison between the false Telegram video (left) and the TikTok video (right)

A statement from the representative office of NUG in Japan said that Zin Mar Aung met with Burmese citizens in Osaka and Japanese people who support Myanmar on November 26, 2023 (archived link).

She discussed Myanmar's current situation with them as well as the steps to be taken to move the country forward.

Zin Mar Aung also published a post about the meeting on November 30 on her official X account. Below is a screengrab of the post (archived link):

Screengrab of Zin Mar Aung's post on X.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

Contact us

Next article Previous article