Clip of Chinese jet near US fleet is digitally created

Published on September 10, 2025 at 08:27
3 min read
By Anne CHAN, AFP Hong Kong

A digitally created video has been falsely presented online as genuine footage of a Chinese warplane flying over US fighter jets off Venezuela's coast as tensions soared between the South American nation and the United States. The clip contains visual errors and was originally posted in a Facebook account that publishes computer-generated military visuals.

"In the waters off Venezuela, a Chinese Chengdu J-36 heavy stealth fighter jet is hovering above a US carrier fleet," reads the simplified Chinese caption to the video shared on Weibo September 7, 2025.

It apparently shows a warplane flying over a cruiser, with at least three fighter jets seen on the deck. The clip ends with a logo that says "iceman_fox1".

Screenshot of the false Weibo post captured September 8, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The video also surfaced on Douyin, RedNote, TikTok and in an X post with more than 200,000 views, and was shared in English, Spanish and French amid soaring tensions between the United States and Venezuela (archived link).

The Pentagon has accused Caracas of buzzing its ships in the Caribbean following a deadly US strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.

US President Donald Trump later threatened to shoot down Venezuelan military jets if they pose a danger to US forces.

While China's foreign ministry has criticised US warship patrols in South America, there have been no official reports to support the circulating posts (archived link).

A reverse image search of keyframes, combined with a keyword search using the term "iceman_fox1", led to a higher-quality video posted September 7 on a Facebook account with the same name (archived link).

"A carrier fleet is circled overheard by a Chinese Chengdu J-36 heavy stealth aircraft, somewhere off the coast of Venezuela," its caption begins. "This video was created digitally."

Screenshot comparison of the false Weibo post (L) and the original video

Features such as the shadow falling over the warplane but not the vehicle, parts of the tower facing the sun failing to reflect light, and people standing unnaturally still on the deck all suggest the circulating clip is not authentic.

Screenshots of the video captured on September 9, 2025, with visual discrepancies highlighted by AFP in red and yellow

The footage has been shared on YouTube and TikTok channels from the same user with captions also indicating the visuals are computer-generated (archived here and here).

A review of the two channels shows that they have a history of posting digitally created content depicting military activities.

AFP contacted the content creator for comment, but did not receive a response.

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to military conflicts here.

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