This video shows humanitarian aid flown from Kenya to China after coronavirus outbreak
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 14, 2020 at 00:30
- 4 min read
- By AFP Hong Kong
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The video was published here on Facebook on February 9, 2020. It has been viewed over 1,500 times.
The 15-second video shows a plane’s cabin filled with boxes. It is overlaid with a popular Chinese patriotic song, “My Motherland and Me”.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The post’s simplified Chinese-language caption translates to English as: “#GodBlessChina / This is a China Southern Airlines flight from Melbourne to Guangzhou with no passengers. Chinese Australians bought the tickets and put all these relief materials they selflessly donated on their seats. Almost all the masks have been sent to China by Chinese people overseas for emergency.”
The fight against novel coronavirus continues as China announced a dramatically spiked death toll of 1,355 on February 13, 2020. The total number of nationwide infections has risen to almost 60,000. Here is an AFP report on the ongoing epidemic.
The video has also been shared here, here and here on Facebook, here and here on Twitter and here, here and here on Youtube, alongside a similar claim.
It was also shared by the Chinese diplomat Zhao Lijian here on Twitter. Below is a screenshot of his tweet:
However, this video has been shared in a misleading context. It actually shows a China Southern Airlines plane in Nairobi carrying medical supplies collected by the Chinese diaspora and bound for Guangzhou. Passengers who bought tickets for this flight were upgraded by the airline to make space for the aid boxes in the cabin.
AFP found this higher quality version of the video, which shows two legible labels on some of the boxes, on the Weibo account of Beijing News.
The simplified Chinese label on one of the boxes seen at the eight-second mark of the video reads: "Jiangsu Province Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation".
Another box seen at the 11-second mark is labelled "Jiangsu Charity Federation".
Further searches on the official website of the Jiangsu Province Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation led to this press release dated February 8, 2020.
The headline states: “Nearly 270,000 face masks donated by Kenya Jiangsu Business Association arrived safe and sound".
The article reads, in part: “At the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, boxes of masks were neatly stacked in the cargo of China Southern Airlines flight CZ634 heading from Nairobi to Guangzhou. The Chinese community in Kenya fought hard to gather these protective materials for the mother country in the wake of the epidemic. The love is so great that even the cargo could not fit it all in.
“Regarding the situation, China Southern Airlines promptly and decisively launched an emergency plan, upgrading all passengers free of charge and freeing up the cabin area for the loveful materials from Chinese people in Kenya. Upon landing, Nanjing customs, Jiangsu Charity Federation and Jiangsu Province Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation provided the quickest and most efficient way for the transferring of the donation."
AFP also found this February 7, 2020 article published on the website of the Jiangsu Charity Federation, which mentions aid from Kenya.
The article states, in part: “In a race against time and disease, Jiangsu Charity Federation resolutely implemented President Xi's instruction of ‘all donated materials shall be used for timely epidemic prevention and control’.
“The Jiangsu Province Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation organised for the Kenya Jiangsu Business Association and Jiangsu Clansmen Association to donate 270,000 masks to Jiangsu Charity Federation.”
The article also features a photo of the plane cabin filled with boxes of humanitarian aid, partially labelled "Jiangsu Charity Federation".
Below is a screenshot of the article:
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