Photo shows US troops at funeral in New York in 2007, not deployed to Taiwan's Kinmen in 2024

"US troops are deployed to Kinmen!" reads the simplified Chinese caption of an X post on February 27, 2024.

The accompanying photo shows a band of soldiers marching in formation, with the US national flag behind them.

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The photo circulated alongside similar false claims after two Chinese men drowned near Kinmen -- a territory administered by Taipei but located just five kilometres (three miles) from China's Xiamen city -- while their boat was being pursued by Taiwan's coast guard on February 14, 2024.

The capsizing has further strained relations between Beijing and Taipei, after a survivor reportedly said the boat was "rammed".

Taiwan's coast guard chief said an average of six to seven Chinese vessels were detected daily in waters around Kinmen since the accident.

Similar false claims were shared elsewhere on X here, here, here, and here. 

President Tsai Ing-wen admitted US troops were present in Taiwan in 2021 -- the first time a Taiwanese leader has publicly made such an admission since the last US garrison left in 1979 when Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

On March 14, 2024, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported the defence minister further confirmed US troops were stationed in the outlying islands as part of an exchange and meant to be a "learning opportunity" for the self-ruled island's armed forces (archived link).

However, the photo has been shared in a false context -- it was taken in 2007 and shows soldiers at a funeral in New York.

West Point funeral procession

Combined keyword and reverse image searches on Google and TinEye found the same photo on the website of Yellow Ribbon America, an organisation that provides support for US military personnel, their families and communities (archived links here and here).

"U.S. Army Rangers with the 75th Ranger Regiment make up the 'honor platoon' in a funeral procession to the gravesite of Gen. (retired) Wayne A. Downing during his internment service at West Point, NY, Sept. 27, 2007," the photo is captioned. 

The 75th Ranger Regiment is a large-scale US special operations force (archived link). 

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the false posts (left) and the one posted by Yellow Ribbon America (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the photo in the false posts (left) and the one posted by Yellow Ribbon America (right)

Further keyword searches found a listing for Downing on an online community of US military veterans called TogetherWeServed, which states his funeral was held on September 27, 2007 at the West Point Cemetery, located on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York (archived links here and here). 

AFP found another photo of the funeral in the October 2007 edition of a United States Special Operations Commands (USSOCOM) publication called "Tip of the Spear" (archived link):

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Screenshot of the photo from "Tip of the Spear", taken March 20, 2024

Based on features such as streetlights and road signs seen in the photo, AFP was able to geolocate the location of the funeral to an area just outside the West Point Cemetery, seen below Google Street View:

AFP has debunked a series of other false claims linked to the fatal boat accident near Kinmen here.