A Facebook (FB) reel claims that a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship arrived in the country for a goodwill visit amid escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). This is misleading. It is an old video and the vessel shown does not even belong to the CCG.
Uploaded on June 30, the video’s caption read:
“Dumating na Ang Monster Shop (sic) Ng China sa bansa natin Upang magkaroon Ng World Peace Ang bawat Isa (China’s monster ship arrived in our country so that everyone could have world peace).”
It also contained a superimposed text that said: “China Coast Guard arrive in Philippines for world peace.”
The ship in the video is not a CCG vessel but a training ship of the Chinese Navy. Qi Jiguang, also known as Hull 83, is the People’s Liberation Army’s largest naval training vessel, which docked in Manila last June 2023 for a goodwill port call.
Its visit then was part of a Southeast Asian tour that included stops in Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei.
The clip used in the reel was taken from a YouTube video uploaded by Philstar.com on June 14, 2023.
The video emerged days after the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea reported that CCG 5901, the world’s largest coast guard ship also known as “The Monster,” had encroached upon WPS waters and passed near 12 features in the area.
The FB reel garnered over 7,800 interactions as of writing.
