Fact-check: Hong Kong activist seeks protection from foreign armies?

#Factcheck #Hong #Kong #activist #seeks #protection #foreign #armies

A photo of Hong Kong activist Agnes Chu holding a piece of paper with a message allegedly seeking protection from Japanese, American and British troops during the city’s ongoing protests, Facebook and Twitter It has been shared hundreds of times in multiple posts. The claim is false. The photo has been tampered with — the original photo showed Chow holding an election document.

This photo was published here on September 8, 2019 on Facebook. It has been shared nearly 500 times since it was posted on a group called the “Hong Kong Traitor Activity Observation Group,” which has about 10,000 members.

The post’s traditional Chinese-language caption translates to English: “If I were Agnes Chow’s parent, I would refuse her!

Why does Ugly Chow ask Japan for help? Did he not study the brutal history of Japan’s invasion of China? So embarrassing! Hong Kong Chinese do not want you!

Chou, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, is seen holding a piece of paper with the following message, translated into English:

“Foreigners are attacking Hong Kong. I would like to request protection from our neighbor Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. It would be better if the United States and Britain also send their troops, so we can continue to fight because the foreigners Advanced technology developed by

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

The majority of Facebook users commenting on the post believed the text was genuine, with many accusing Chow of inviting foreign powers to invade Hong Kong.

Below is a screenshot of the derogatory comments under the post, which called Chow a “traitor,” a “shameless dog” who was born to a “mother and grandmother who were comfortable women”:

The same photo has been shared on Facebook here and on Twitter here and here with similar claims.

The claim is false. The photo is designed to replace the text of an election document that Chow was holding.

A reverse image search on Google found the original image published on March 14, 2018, Hong Kong newspaper Tsing Tao Daily reports.

A screenshot of the image included in the article is shown below:

Chow is seen standing in front of the same group of people but holding a piece of paper showing different text.

The news report’s traditional Chinese-language headline translates to English: “Agnes Chow to file election petition after by-election disqualification”.

The photo caption has been translated into English: “Agnes Chow shows a document from the election officer stating that she has been disqualified from running”.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading post (L) and the image published by AFP by Sing Tao Daily (R) with similar areas circled in red:

In this report published by Hong Kong newspaper The Standard, the image shown above right reappeared on September 2, 2019.

The report reads in part: “Demosto leader Agnes Chu Ting wins her legal challenge at the High Court to be barred from standing in the 2018 Legislative Council by-election – the eventual winner of the pro-democracy camp in the poll, Au By removing the nook, in the process.

“In January last year, a Hong Kong Island returning officer ruled that Chow was unfit to run for the Legco seat, after the group’s Nathan Law was disqualified over the way he took his oath of office. So they were left empty.”

Close-up shots of the document, titled “Notice of Decision as to Validity of Nomination”, can be seen at the 31-second mark of this video of Chow’s press conference held on January 31, 2018. The video is embedded below.

Japanese newspaper The Japan Times reported here on 11 June 2019 that Chow had previously urged Japan to help pressure the Hong Kong government to withdraw the extradition bill.