A YouTube video claims that Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning will replace Chinese President Xi Jinping, and launch an armed attack on the Philippines if she becomes president. This has no basis.
The video is clickbait. Mao has never made any public pronouncement that she intends to become president of China nor did she say anything about obliterating the Philippines.
Uploaded on Nov. 23, the video bore the headline:
“MAO NING PAPALITAN SI XI JINPING BILANG BAGONG PRESIDENTE NG CHINA!🔴PILIPINAS BUBURAHIN SA MAPA (Mao Ning will replace Xi Jinping as the new president of China! Philippines will be erased from the map)!”
Its thumbnail bore photos of Xi, Mao and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., along with the text: “NEXT PRESIDENT OF CHINA! MAO NING GALIT NA GALIT SINUSUMPANG BUBURAHIN ANG PILIPINAS SA MAPA KUNG SAKALING MAGIGING PRESIDENTE (Mao Ning is so mad, vowed to erase the Philippines from the map if she becomes president).”
Mao, who has been serving as spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry since 2022, has not declared her intention to replace Xi as president.
While Mao is known to make critical remarks against the Philippines in relation to the West Philippine Sea, she has never made any threat of violence in any of her press conferences.
The clickbait video did not show any proof to support its claim. It only discussed Xi’s unprecedented election last year as president for a third term.
Some netizens who believed the video expressed alarm and called on others to pray that Mao will not take over China’s presidency.
The baseless clip emerged after the China Coast Guard “forcefully retrieved” an unidentified floating object recovered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command near Pag-asa Island on Nov. 20.
Uploaded by previously fact-checked YouTube channel Summit Media Philippines, the video received 13,296 interactions.
