This video was filmed in Sichuan and appeared in 2019 reports about shale mining protest

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 25, 2021 at 07:59
3 min read
By AFP Hong Kong

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on social media alongside a claim it shows retired employees protesting China's pension insurance system in eastern Jiangsu province in November 2021. But the video has been shared in a false context; it was filmed in China's Sichuan province. Reports state the video shows a protest against shale mining in February 2019.

The video was shared on Twitter on November 11, 2021.

It has gained more than 58,000 views since its posting.

A screenshot, taken on November 23, 2021, of the misleading post.

The video's Chinese-language text overlay translates as: "This video was taken during the petition in Nanjing yesterday afternoon. Retired employees requested to abolish the dual-track system, allowing equal treatment of corporate wages."

Nanjing is the capital of China's eastern Jiangsu province.

The "dual-track system" refers to a pension system in China that had been criticised for the purportedly unfair distribution of benefits. The system was abolished in 2015.

AFP did not find credible reports of protests by retired employees in Nanjing in November 2021.

The video's caption states: "Rise, those who don’t want to be slaves".

The caption appears to be a reference to March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.

An identical video was also shared on Twitter here and here alongside a similar claim.

But the video has been shared in a false context.

A reverse image search on Google found a screenshot of the video embedded in a Chinese-language news report published by French broadcaster Radio France Internationale on February 26, 2019.

"Shale mining activities in Sichuan, China allegedly triggered three earthquakes in two days from February 24-25, resulting in two deaths, 12 injuries, and thousands of houses damaged", the news report reads.

"Following protests from thousands of residents, Rong County authorities announced that mining operations would cease across the board."

Sichuan is a province located in southwestern China.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (L) and the screenshot from the RFI news report (R).

Screenshot comparison

A follow-up keyword search on Google found a similar video filmed from a different angle was published in this news report by Radio Taiwan International on February 26, 2019.

"Radio Free Asia reported that several earthquakes occurred in Rong County, Zigong City, Sichuan Province within two days", the report reads.

"The latest 4.9 Richter scale earthquake caused at least two deaths, causing widespread concern."

"Local people blamed this phenomenon on shale gas mining, and a large number of people held demonstrations and clashed with the police."

A screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (L) and the RFA video (R) with similarities circled in red.

The location of the video corresponds to this Baidu Maps street view of a government office building in Rong Country, Sichuan.

A screenshot, taken on November 24, 2021, of the Baidu map imagery of the Rong Country government office.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (L) and the street view of the building in Sichuan on Baidu Maps (R) with similarities circled in red by AFP.

A screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (L) and its corresponding imagery on Baidu Maps (R) with similarities circled in red.

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