Unrelated videos falsely linked to China and Taiwan's commemoration of Xinhai Revolution

"Mainland commemoration of the Xinhai Revolution VS Taiwan Province commemoration of the Xinhai Revolution. Such an eyesore," reads the simplified Chinese X post shared on October 10 when Taiwan marked its national day. 

The post includes two clips. The video at the top -- with the overlaid text "China Mainland" -- shows soldiers marching in front of a portrait of revolutionary Sun Yat-sen while the clip at the bottom with the text "Taiwan" superimposed showed drag queens performing.

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Screenshot of the false X post captured on October 13, 2025, with a red cross added by AFP

Taipei's annual celebrations on October 10 marked the 114th anniversary of the toppling of China's Qing dynasty -- called the Xinhai Revolution -- and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China, which modern-day Taiwan still uses as its official name (archived here and here).

China -- which mostly uses simplified Chinese as its written text -- considers self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, and Beijing has not excluded the use of force to take it (archived link). 

Comments indicated some users were disappointed with how Taiwan commemorated the Xinhai Revolution.

"Total disgrace. China shows respect and power. The other one shows confusion and total destruction of cultural values," one left a comment in English.

Another comment in simplified Chinese reads: "Sun Yat-sen is coughing up blood from the portrait."

The video was shared alongside similar claims on TikTok and Weibo. 

But the clips are unrelated.

2019 Beijing procession

A Baidu reverse image search of key frames of the top "China Mainland" clip led to the screenshots of a 2019 military parade in Beijing (archived link).

The logo on the top left corner has a watermark of Chinese national broadcaster CCTV (archived link). However, the full video of the procession does not appear on its official website. 

A further keyword search led to a live video uploaded by British media Guardian News on YouTube on October 1, 2019 (archived link).

The caption reads: "China marks the 70th anniversary of its founding on National Day, where President Xi Jinping will inspect the troops along Chang'an Avenue in the Chinese capital. More than a hundred thousand citizens will parade past the Tiananmen Gate with floats."

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Screenshot comparison of the false X video and the YouTube video captured on October 13, 2025

AFP also reported that China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party supremacy on October 1, 2019, with a parade of tanks, missiles and troops (archived link). 

Taipei drag queens

For the second clip, a reverse image search led to a Facebook video posted by Taiwanese broadcaster TTV News Channel citing a source from the presidential office, which is dated May 15, 2024 (archived here and here). 

The caption reads in traditional Chinese: "President Tsai Ing-wen today (15th) received Nymphia Wind, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Nymphia performed a series of drag shows. She was moved to tears during her speech, thanking President Tsai for her contributions over the years in protecting Taiwan and safeguarding the homeland. She expressed gratitude for Tsai’s eight years of dedication, calling her 'the mother of Taiwan'."

Tsai Ing-wen is the predecessor of current President Lai Ching-te (archived link). 

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Screenshot comparison of the false X post and the Facebook video captured on October 13, 2025

During Tsai's two terms in power, her Democratic Progressive Party had been a strong proponent of social issues particularly on LGBTQ rights, making the island the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage in 2019 (archived link). 

Commemorating the revolution

When it comes to commemorating the Xinhai Revolution, Taiwan typically marks it alongside its National Day celebrations (archived link).

In 2025, the self-ruled island had a military parade and student performances at the Presidential Palace on October 10 (archived here and here). 

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Taiwanese AT-3 advanced jet trainers perform during National Day celebrations at the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2025. (AFP / I-Hwa Cheng)

In China this year, smaller-scale activities were held on Martyrs' Day on September 30, including a flower offering to honour the revolutionaries who died in the 1911 uprising (archived link).

The last major commemoration of the revolution took place on October 9, 2021, with Chinese President Xi Jinping addressing the 110th anniversary assembly (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation about the Taiwan-China conflict.