A video claiming that the Japanese Coast Guard has started using water cannons to repel Chinese fishing vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is incorrect. The incident cited in the clip actually took place in the East China Sea 11 years ago between the JCG and Taiwanese fishing boats.
The eight-minute and seven-second video was uploaded on YouTube and Facebook (FB) on April 21 with this headline:
“Barko ng Japan sa West Philippine Sea nagsimula nang bombahin ng water cannon ang mga Chinese (Japanese ships in the West Philippine Sea have started firing water cannons at the Chinese).”
Its thumbnail featured three boats, one shown firing water cannon at another vessel, with attached images of the Japanese and Chinese flags to imply their ownership. An inset photo of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and the text “Ilang Chinese vessel nasira (Some Chinese vessels were destroyed)” were also added.
The video voice-over claimed “it was reported” that “at least ten Chinese fishing vessels” were “driven away by the JCG,” in an effort “to help the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Navy safeguard the country’s territories.”
There are no reports from the PCG that such an incident took place.
The photo in the thumbnail and video shows a JGC vessel spraying water against Taiwanese fishing boats near Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea on Sept. 25, 2012.
According to the caption in the original photo published by Agence France-Presse, vessels from Japan and Taiwan engaged in a water cannon fight “after dozens of Taiwanese boats escorted by patrol ships sailed into waters around the Tokyo-controlled islands.” The photo was cropped in the false video.
The video further claims that the PCG recently “chased and attacked” a Chinese vessel illegally fishing in Sabina Shoal, but the photo flashed was a Chinese boat caught illegally fishing in Taiwan in 2021. The PCG, however, spotted at least 20 Chinese and Vietnamese vessels in Sabina Shoal during their March 16 to 21 maritime patrol.
The erroneous video was uploaded four days after National Security Council assistant director general Jonathan Malaya said in an April 17 forum that the talks for joint maritime patrols in the WPS with the United States, Australia and Japan are “progressing.”
The video of YouTube channel PH TV (created on Nov. 2, 2015) has 78,399 views as of writing. PH TV’s FB page (Nov. 1, 2021) also uploaded the same video garnering additional 377 interactions.
VERA Files Fact Check has previously debunked other false claims posted by this channel. (Read US Coast Guard did NOT sink Chinese ships in West PH Sea)
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