Old, unrelated images shared as Chinese ships, aircraft seen recently near Taiwan

What’s the claim?

Two images are circulating online alongside claims they show Chinese naval vessels and military aircraft seen near Taiwan in April 2024. One image shows a row of six navy ships, and the other shows four fighter jets in formation.

The claim emerged after the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense posted on X (formerly Twitter) that on April 3, 2024, 30 Chinese military aircraft and nine navy vessels were detected operating around Taiwan. This recent uptick in Chinese military activity around Taiwan is part of a larger trend of increasing tensions between the two sides.

One Facebook user shared the two images with the caption, “9 navy vessels and 30 Chinese warplanes detected near Taiwan...DEVELOPING.” The archived examples can be found here and here. The images have also gained widespread traction on X, with one such post getting over 4 million views at the time of writing this story. An archived version of the post can be found here.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: Facebook/ Modified by Logically Facts)

However, reverse image searches of each image showed that both images are old and unrelated to the recent Chinese vessels and aircraft detected near Taiwan.

Image of the ships

We found that the image of the ships is from 2016, as this image was included in a July 24, 2017 report by China's state-run news agency, Xinhua. The image description stated that it showed Chinese officers and soldiers waving goodbye to the Russian fleet during a joint naval drill off the coast of Guangdong Province, China on September 19, 2016. The photo credit was attributed to Xinhua News Agency photographer Zha Chunming.

The image has been on the internet since 2016 and is unrelated to the recent events reported in Taiwan.

Screenshot of the image from the Xinhua report. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Image of the aircraft

The second image, depicting four military aircraft, was found on the Getty Images website and was uploaded in November 2009. According to the image description, it shows a group of J-10 air fighters performing at an aerial exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force on November 15, 2009, in Beijing, China.

Screenshot of fighter jets on Getty Images (Source: Getty Images)

This confirms that both images are unrelated and are falsely linked to the April 2024 Taiwan-China dispute.

The verdict

The two images depicting six navy vessels and four aircraft are from two different events, one from 2016 and the other from 2009. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.