Altered images depict false escalation of South China Sea dispute
- Published on January 31, 2024 at 07:45
- 7 min read
- By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
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"Extreme! China Coast Guard destroyed after being hit by a still undetermined weapon," reads the Tagalog-language title of a YouTube video shared here on January 22, 2024.
The 13-minute video shows a person reacting to another clip with the same title that was first published here on September 13, 2023.
The video, which has been viewed more than 200,000 times, shows several still images of ships -- most emblazoned with "China Coast Guard" -- on fire and billowing black smoke.
Tagalog-language narration on the video says: "A Chinese naval vessel patrolling the West Philippine Sea was reportedly destroyed by an undetermined weapon yesterday."
Manila refers to the waters to its west, which are part of the South China Sea, as the West Philippines Sea.
The video was also shared on Facebook here, here and here.
Comments on the posts suggest users believed the claim.
"Serves China right, because of their greed for the seas. Nations should gang up on them," one said.
Another read: "They're sabotaging their own ship to blame it on other actors in the region."
The video circulated days after Chinese and Philippine officials agreed on the need for closer dialogue following a sharp deterioration in relations over a series of incidents in the South China Sea involving vessels from both countries.
The two sides also held rival military exercises in the South China Sea -- which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite an international tribunal ruling its assertions have no legal basis -- after months of tense standoffs in the area.
But AFP journalists in the Philippines can confirm there had been no reports of any Chinese coast guard ships destroyed in the South China Sea. The video also uses images altered from photos of coast guard vessels patrolling in disputed waters in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
Philippine fact-checking organisations Vera Files and Rappler debunked the claims when they were first shared in September 2023 here and here.
Patrolling coast guard vessels
Reverse image searches using Bing, Google, Baidu, Yandex and Sogou found the images were altered from old photos of coast guard vessels patrolling the South China Sea and East China Sea, as well as photos taken during maritime exercises.
The video's thumbnail which appears to show a China coast guard vessel with the registration 2204 exploding was altered from a photo distributed by the Japanese coast guard in November 2022.
It was carried by various Japanese media outfits, including The Japan Times, Nippon Television and NHK (archived links here, here and here).
The reports say it shows a Chinese coast guard ship equipped with a large cannon sailing near disputed islets in the East China Sea known as Senkaku by Tokyo and the Diaoyu by Beijing.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image used in the false video (left) and the photo published by The Japan Times (right):
The image at the video's one-minute, 35-second mark supposedly showing an explosion aboard Chinese coast guard vessel 31239 was in fact also released by the Japanese coast guard in December 2015.
The photo can be seen in the archives of wire agencies AFP and Reuters (archived link).
AFP's photo caption reads: "This handout picture taken and released by the Japan Coast Guard on December 22, 2015 shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship near disputed islets, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and Diaoyu islands in China, in the East China Sea."
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the photo in AFP's photo archive (right):
The image purportedly showing Chinese coast guard vessel 2502 in flames at the video's one-minute, six-second mark was altered from a photo posted by China's state news agency Xinhua and the party-run People's Daily in January 2016 (archived links here and here).
The reports say the image shows "new law enforcement vessels" of the Chinese coast guard.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the photo published by Xinhua (right):
A similar image of Chinese coast guard vessel 5202 which first appears at the video's 30-second mark, was altered from a photo published by an Indonesian photo agency in January 2020 (archived link).
Antara Foto's photo caption says it shows two Chinese coast guard ships shadowing an Indonesian Navy corvette north of Natuna Island.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the Antara Foto photo (right):
Maritime drills
The image at the clip's two-minute, 33-second mark that appears to show a ship struck by a missile in fact shows a Royal Canadian Navy frigate firing a missile in 2020.
The photo, credited to the Royal Canadian Navy, was published in an article posted on the official website of the US Navy's 3rd Fleet on August 30, 2020 (archived link).
The 3rd Fleet article explains that the Canadian ship was operating off the coast of Hawaii, as part of "Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2020, the largest maritime exercise in the world".
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the Royal Canadian Navy photo (right):
The image of a Philippine coast guard vessel and what appears to be a burning ship in the background at the video's four-minute, 25-second mark was altered from a European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) photo taken during a joint Philippines-United States maritime drill in 2022 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the EPA photo (right):
The final image appearing to show a Philippine coast guard vessel in the foreground as another boat is engulfed in flames in the background was altered from an AFP photo captured in May 2019.
Its caption says, "a Philippine coast guard ship sails past a Chinese coast guard ship during a joint search and rescue exercise between Philippine and US coast guards near Scarborough shoal, in the South China Sea."
Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and the AFP photo (right):
AFP has previously debunked false videos surrounding the South China Sea dispute here, here and here.
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