VERA Files
A video on YouTube is erroneously claiming that China has declared war on the Philippines. This is not true.
Published on Dec. 14, the YouTube channel published the video with this spurious headline:
“China nagdeklara na! China pinalusob mga barka, lahat umalarma! (China has declared [war]! China sent ships, alarming all!)”
The video thumbnail featured an alleged photo of a fleet of warships bearing red flags and also showed shocked faces of President Ferdinand Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
A reverse image search revealed the photo did not show Chinese military vessels with red flags, but Chinese fishing boats setting sail after the seasonal fishing ban was lifted there in 2013.
Relations between the Philippines and China have hit a low following increased tensions in the West Philippine Sea. The video with the spurious headline appeared amid another incident of a Chinese vessel firing a water cannon at Philippine boats on a resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal.
YouTube channel PHILIPPINES TRENDING NEWS (created on Dec.10, 2014) published the video, garnering over 142,000 views and 3,000 interactions.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
