VERA Files
A video claimed that a Japanese naval commander threatened war if China would not follow laws of the sea. This is not true.
The statement attributed to Japanese commander Noguchi Yuta of the Akizuki-class destroyer JS Suzutsuki, referred to the mission-readiness of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force.
On Sept. 20, a Facebook page reshared a June 28 video from a YouTube channel with this claim:
“HULING BABALA! Japanese Commander NAGBANTA NG DIGMAAN Kung Hindi Susunod Ang CHINA (Final warning! Japanese commander threatened war if China won’t follow)!”
Yuta issued no such warning. In a statement on June 23, after the JS Suzutsuki launched a RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile during its training with the U.S. Navy in Hawaii, he said:
“We managed to display the full capability of our installed weapon systems, succeeded in defeating a target, and improved our tactical capabilities. In addition, crew morale is high to respond to new missions.”
According to Chapter 2, Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”
Posted by YouTube channel Terong Explained (created on Oct. 6, 2015) and reuploaded by FB page PH Speaker (created on Sept. 19, 2022), the video garnered a total of over 450,349 interactions.
The erroneous video appeared around the time Japan told China to remove buoys near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
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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.)
