False: This video does not show Hong Kongers singing a patriotic song in a mall on National Day
By Cheryl Ho, Areta Lee, Dylan Duan 段昱 and mengpinglai
A Weibo post on Oct. 3 claimed a large crowd in Hong Kong was singing a patriotic song to celebrate People’s Republic of China National Day on Oct. 1 in a shopping mall with what appears to be a mobile phone video.
The post has over 46,000 views and almost 400 likes. The same video was also posted on the same day by another account and it received more than 20,000 views.
The post in simplified Chinese reads, when translated to English:
“This is what Hong Kong should be like on National Day. On National Day Hong Kong people are singing Ode to the Motherland together in a mall! Happy birthday to the motherland! May our motherland be strong and prosperous!”
Ode to the Motherland” (歌唱祖国) is a popular patriotic song in China since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
However, the video has been manipulated. Annie Lab has found that the audio track was added to the footage taken during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement in 2019.
This video found on YouTube has identical images to the doctored Weibo version.
It was recorded in the apm shopping mall in Kwun Tong on Sept. 12, 2019, while supporters of the movement were singing “ Glory to Hong Kong,” a song that became the anthem of the movement.
When the National Security Law came into effect in June 2020, the song was essentially banned in schools although the government did not clarify whether or not the protest anthem itself is illegal or not.
According to popnews, hundreds of protesters gathered in the mall on Sept.12, 2019, singing songs and chanting slogans.
In the manipulated video, South Korean singer and actress Jeong Eun Ji can be seen on the shopping mall’s screen in the same way as in the YouTube video from two years ago.
The girl seen on the left bottom corner is identical in both videos as well. The location of the cosmetics store Shu Uemura is also exactly alike.
Frames like the one showing a girl looking sideways confirm the two video clips are the same, indeed.
Annie Lab was also able to locate the audio track dubbed over the original video through keyword search.
The singing voices were extracted from a Douyin (TikTok) video posted on Sept. 25, 2021 at Shenzhen International Airport.
On this day, Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of telecom giant Huawei, returned to China after three years in detention in Canada over allegations of financial fraud and conspiracy.
In September a deferred prosecution agreement was struck and Meng was convicted of no crime, while admitting wrongdoing without admitting guilt, according to media reports.
The state media depicted her homecoming as a symbol of “rising China.” When she landed in Shenzhen, she received a hero’s welcome from supporters and senior officials.
Disclaimer: Although faculty members at the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong have done everything possible to verify the accuracy of the story, we cannot guarantee there are no mistakes. If you notice an error or have any questions, please email us.
Originally published at https://annielab.org on November 12, 2021.
