FACT CHECK: Video shows a Japanese F-2 fighter plane, not a Chinese jet 

Claim: A Chinese fighter jet flies over the West Philippine Sea and is spying on the movements of the Philippines and the United States.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: As of writing, the YouTube video containing the claim has over 2,749 views and 35 likes.

Japanese aircraft: Google and Yandex reverse image searches reveal that the aircraft in the video is a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter plane, not a Chinese fighter jet.

According to the website of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the F-2 aircraft is a “close support fighter jet owned by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force” developed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. It was jointly developed by MHI and American company Lockheed Martin Aeronautics as the principal US subcontractor.

No F-2 aircraft dispatched in PH: The YouTube video does not say when the supposed incident took place or other details to support its claim. As of writing, there have been no official news reports from the Philippines confirming that Japan dispatched an F-2 fighter aircraft to the West Philippine Sea. There are no announcements from the embassy of Japan in the Philippines, the Philippine Air Force, nor the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

Rappler has previously fact-checked videos from the same YouTube channel, which has repeatedly used clips that were magnified or mirrored for its false claims: 

• FACT CHECK: US hasn’t sent warships to the Philippines
• FACT CHECK: Philippines has not received a warship from Russia
• FACT CHECK: Japan has not sent tanks to North Korea
• FACT CHECK: The Philippines has not been gifted tanks by the US in 2023

Several claims on alleged military activities that happened in Philippine territory have also been debunked:

• FACT CHECK: Video does not show PH ships sent to the West Philippine Sea
• FACT CHECK: PH did not attack Chinese warship in West Philippine Sea
• FACT CHECK: No US warship deployed to confront Chinese vessel in West Philippine Sea
• FACT CHECK: China hasn’t bombed the Philippines

 – Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

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