The false declare surfaced after China carried out maiden sea trials of the Fujian, its third and largest plane service, on Might 1, 2024. The assessments had been a key subsequent step in an enormous naval build-up by Beijing because it carves out a extra assertive function for itself within the Pacific and past.
However a long time of animosity between China and Japan — pushed by its earlier occupation of China and present territorial disputes — usually spurs the unfold of misinformation on Chinese language social media.
Related false claims misidentifying the flag seen on the vessel had been shared elsewhere on Weibo and on X right here and right here.
In actual fact, the flag seen on the ship is used for signalling and communication at sea.
Signalling flag
A Google key phrase search discovered a video report by Chinese language state broadcaster CCTV on Might 1, 2024, with the headline “Navy’s Fujian leaves for the primary set of sea trials” (archived hyperlink).
The picture used within the false posts corresponds to the CCTV report’s 25-second mark, the place a triangular flag with a pink disk within the centre will be seen flying subsequent to China’s nationwide flag.
Beneath is a screenshot comparability of the picture within the false posts (left) and the CCTV footage (proper):
Additional key phrase searches on Google led to the Worldwide Code of Indicators for visible, sound and radio communications information launched by the US Nationwide Geospatial-Intelligence Company, which is a technique of communication utilized in seafaring to convey messages about navigation security and associated issues (archived hyperlink).
The triangular flag with a pink circle corresponds to the quantity “1” on this system. In the meantime, the white flag with a pink cross corresponds to the quantity “8” and the flag with diagonal pink and yellow traces corresponds to the letter “Y”, as seen within the screenshot under:
Against this, Japan’s nationwide flag “the rising solar” is often rectangular with a peak to width ratio of two:3, in response to the Japanese authorities (archived hyperlink).
In a Weibo submit on Might 2, the ship’s producer China State Shipbuilding Company rebuffed the declare, writing: “These are signalling flags hung in accordance with the Worldwide Code of Indicators, it has nothing to do with the ‘solar’ flag.”
A bunch of signalling flags is often made up of three alphabet or quantity flags, and the “solar” flag was really the sign flag for the quantity “1”, the submit states.
