Old images shared with false claim they show US troops' 'withdrawal' from Okinawa

Published on January 1, 2025 at 05:58
4 min read
By Tommy WANG, AFP Hong Kong

After the United States began moving thousands of Marines from Japan's Okinawa to the US territory of Guam in December 2024 as part of a planned relocation, two old photos resurfaced with a false claim they show US soldiers being evacuated from the Japanese island in response to China's military drills in waters around Taiwan earlier in the month. The pictures in fact show US and Japanese troops taking part in drills years before the redeployment started.

"After the Chinese military finished an exercise on sealing off Taiwan and breaking through the 'first island chain', the US military suddenly started evacuating its troops in Okinawa to Guam," read part of a simplified Chinese X post shared on December 18, 2024.

The post shared two pictures of soldiers leaving a building and posing with US and Japanese flags, along with a photo of a 2016 protest against US military bases in Okinawa (archived link).

Screenshot of the false post shared on X, captured on December 24, 2024

The claim was shared after the United States began relocating thousands of Marines from the Japanese island on December 14, 2024 as part of a plan announced in 2012 (archived link).

The move -- which involves the redeployment of 9,000 Marines -- was made after decades of mounting grievances among locals over the US military presence, with objections ranging from pollution to noise and helicopter crashes.

The 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US soldiers in Okinawa also prompted widespread backlash, with calls for a rethink of the 1960 pact allowing the United States to post soldiers in Japan.

There are currently around 19,000 Marines in Okinawa -- strategically located east of Taiwan, which has become a flashpoint for tensions between the United States and China.

The post also surfaced after China held a military drill around Taiwan -- which the island's government has described as the "biggest maritime drills in years" -- in December (archived link).

Beijing regards the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has said it will use force to bring it under its control if necessary.

The pictures were also shared on other platforms including Weibo, WeChat and TikTok.

The images used in the false claim, however, are old and unrelated to the US troops' relocation.

Old photos

A reverse image search and subsequent keyword searches on Google found the first photo was published by the US government's Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) on May 5, 2017 (archived link).

Its caption indicates that it shows Marines preparing to board an MV-22 Osprey aircraft during a drill at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the picture seen in the false post (left) and on DVIDS (right):

Screenshot comparison of the picture seen in the false post (left) and on DVIDS (right)

Online stock photography database Alamy also published the picture on the same day (archived link).

The second photo was published on the website of the US 5th Air Force on June 10, 2021 (archived link).

Its caption says it shows Japanese aircrew students and US pilots posing for a group photo at the Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and the photo published on the website of the US 5th Air Force (right):

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and the photo published on the website of the US 5th Air Force (right)

The same photo was also shared on the official X account of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force in June 2021 (archived link).

According to reports from Japanese media organisations Kyodo News and The Japan Times, some 10,000 US Marines will remain in Okinawa after the redeployment (archived links here and here).

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