Macau military display misrepresented as showing malfunctioning Chinese army trucks

"The PLA has completely embarrassed itself in Macau!" reads a simplified Chinese X post shared on May 31. "Recently, the Chinese government sought to display its 'military might' to the people of Macau; however, to their utter humiliation, two of its armoured vehicles broke down and had to be pushed by hand!"

"With such pathetic competence, they actually think they can invade Taiwan!?"

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly threatened to use force to bring the self‑ruled island under its control.

The attached clip -- shared by an account with more than 223,900 followers -- shows soldiers pushing an armoured vehicle as spectators watched on.

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Screenshot of the false X post, taken on June 3, with a red X added by AFP

China's military regularly conducts drills around Taiwan and says it will "resolutely defeat" any separatist activities and external interference (archived link).

The claim has been shared widely on X and Facebook in Chinese and in other languages. Some posts have also linked it to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, falsely suggesting the vehicles had to be pushed due to a fuel shortage caused by the Iran war.

"This isn't surprising as the world has seen the failure of these #MadeInChina scrap metal that failed in Pakistan, Venezuela and Iran. And now Macau joins the list," one user commented, while another wrote: "The CCP's military is literally a paper tiger."

But the video actually shows a performance during an open house by the Chinese military garrison in Macau held on May 1 and 2 (archived link). 

A keyword search on China's video platform Bilibili found a longer version of the demonstration, where an announcer can be heard saying the soldiers were competing in an obstacle course (archived link). 

The event in the false clip can be seen at around the 35:33 mark in the Bilibili video. It shows soldiers pushing the truck to the finish line before boarding it and driving away. 

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Screenshot comparison of the false post and the full footage uploaded by a Bilibili user, with a red X and visual similarities added by AFP

Another clip uploaded to the site shows the same event from another angle at the 19:52 mark (archived link). 

At the 13:35 mark, the announcer says soldiers from the Red and Blue teams will compete in a series of physical challenges, including an obstacle-course race, battlefield first aid, transporting tyres and ammunition crates, and an armoured vehicle push to the finish line. 

Chinese state news agency Xinhua also reported on the open house and the competition (archived link).

The PLA held similar competitions during open houses in previous years (archived here and here).

AFP has debunked other false claims related to the Chinese military.