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Oct 8, 2024 | 
msn.com | AFP Hong Kong
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Oct 8, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | AFP Hong Kong
"Flying underpants in Kaohsiung," read a Threads post shared on October 3, 2024. Screenshot of the false post The post was shared after Typhoon Krathon slammed into Taiwan on October 3, bringing mudslides, flooding and destructive winds to the island, killing at least four people and forcing the evacuation of thousands (archived link).
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | AFP Hong Kong
"Medal table on the official website of the Olympic Committee," read a post on X in simplified Chinese shared on August 13, 2024. It also published a medal table image that put China at the top with 44 golds -- made up of the medals of the Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese teams -- and edged the US team to second place.
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Jul 26, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | AFP Hong Kong
"Chinese dictator Xi Jinping suffered a stroke at the Third Plenum of the Communist Party of China," read a simplified Chinese X post shared on July 18. An important meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the "Third Plenum" -- which focused on major economic policies -- was held that week in Beijing. The photo shows Xi leaning forward with his eyes closed.
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Jun 13, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | AFP Hong Kong
AFP Hong KongJune 13, 2024 at 4:54 AM·2 min readBoth the global Olympic committee and its Taiwanese constituent have confirmed athletes from the self-ruled island will compete under the name "Chinese Taipei" at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, contrary to baseless claims shared repeatedly on Facebook.
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Jun 5, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | AFP Hong Kong
AFP Hong KongJune 5, 2024 at 10:27 PM·3 min readAs Hong Kong police arrested people commemorating the 35th anniversary of China's deadly crackdown at Tiananmen Square, an old photo circulated in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed a woman holding a vigil in defiance of law enforcement in 2024. The picture was in fact taken in 2021 and showed Clara Cheung -- an independent artist who has since moved to the United Kingdom -- marking the anniversary that year.
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May 13, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | Tommy Wang |AFP Hong Kong
"Protesting US students face water cannon. Fearlessly using their bodies as a new defence," read simplified Chinese text superimposed on the video posted on Weibo on May 5, 2024. The footage shows water blasting through a gate onto a group of people, drenching them as they form a human wall against it. "The police used water cannon and they formed a human wall. Then The Internationale (socialist anthem) played in the background!" the Weibo caption read.
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May 8, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | Tommy Wang |AFP Hong Kong
"Harvard University removed the American flag and replaced it with the Palestinian flag," reads the simplified Chinese caption of a Weibo post shared on May 2, 2024. The post shows a photo of a US flag flying at Harvard University above a statue of its founder John Harvard. The picture was not taken during the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests and was originally posted on photo-sharing site Flickr in November 2022 (archived link). A second photo shows a Palestinian flag raised above the same statue.
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May 7, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | Tommy Wang |AFP Hong Kong
"US University Demonstration: pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University was majestic!" read the simplified Chinese caption to a video posted on Weibo on April 30, 2024. The video, which was viewed more than 156,000 times, shows various aerial shots of a massive crowd as a German-language song plays in the background. Screenshot of the false Weibo post, captured on May 6, 2024The same clip was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on Weibo, where it was viewed more than 109,000 times.
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Apr 24, 2024 | 
factcheck.afp.com | AFP Hong Kong
"Israeli media: #Explosions heard in Iran and elsewhere," read a post on Chinese state-run news portal Ifeng's Weibo account on April 19, 2024. "Explosions were heard in Iran, Syria and Iraq, according to the Jerusalem Post. In the early morning hours of April 19, explosions were heard in Isfahan in central Iran, in the province of Suwayda in southern Syria, Baghdad area and Babylon province in Iraq."The photo appears to show a mosque's minaret illuminated by an orange fireball in the distance.
