Ming Inspector Yang remains
At a glance
- The online rumor that "the Saudi defense minister was scared away by firecrackers in front of the Chinese Embassy in Riyadh" is untrue. The original video is the site of the 5th Gulf Defense and Aerospace Exhibition in Kuwait from December 10 to 12, 2019, which is located at the International Exhibition Site in The Mizrev District of Kuwait City.
Event background
Recently, a 53-second video circulated on overseas social platforms, allegedly the Saudi defense minister was startled by firecrackers in front of the Chinese Embassy. In the video, when the official stepped out of the car, there was a sudden loud noise, and then the scene fell into chaos. Twitter user "ampt_tmmq" wrote: "Saudi Arabia's defense minister arrived at the Chinese embassy in Riyadh. Apparently, Chinese did not tell him that he would be greeted with firecrackers. ”
Another netizen "samarjeet_n" posted in English that the Saudi defense minister went to the Chinese embassy to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Mingcha
Using InVid software to capture relevant video keyframes, a reverse search found that the original video had appeared as early as December 2019, shared on Facebook by the Jordanian media "Time News Agency" (al-Sa'a), titled "Military Exercise of Kuwaiti Private Guards" (تمرين عسكري لⵁي لⵔلرس الشخصيات بدوله الكويت)。
Jordan's Time News Agency released a video on December 13, 2019.
Searching for the keyword "Kuwait military exercise" on Google and setting the time for December 2019, Kuwait hosted the "5th Gulf Defense and Aerospace Exhibition and" from December 10 to 12, 2019, the day before the time news agency released the original video conference), which has been reported in local media outlets such as the Kuwait Times.
Screenshot of a related report in The Kuwait Times.
According to the Kuwait Times, the exhibition was attended by 212 leading companies in the defense and armaments sector from 32 countries, located at the Kuwait International Fairground in Mishref District, Kuwait City, with three exhibition halls, namely 5th, 6th and 7th. Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili, chief of the Saudi military's general staff, hamad Mohammed al-Rumaithi, chief of staff of the UAE armed forces, and other officials attended.
By logging on to the Kuwait International Exhibition Grounds website, the promotional video for the homepage is consistent with the architectural style in the background of the webcast video, and it can be determined that the original video was indeed filmed in Kuwait and not riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Screenshot of promotional video on the homepage of Kuwait International Exhibition Grounds.
The official Instagram account of the Kuwaiti Army and the Scientific media "Al-Hadath News" also posted military exercises filmed from different angles. News Events said the drill was carried out by the Kuwait Amiri Guard, a subordinate of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces. The main goal of the drill is to show how to protect important people in the event of an unexpected event such as an assassination, the host said.
The military exercises released by the science media "News Events" were filmed from another angle.
A video of the Kuwaiti Army on Instagram.
In summary, the online rumor that "the Saudi defense minister was scared away by firecrackers in front of the Chinese embassy in Riyadh" is untrue. The original video is the scene of the 5th Gulf Defense and Aerospace Exhibition in Kuwait from December 10 to 12, 2019, which is located at the International Exhibition Hall in The Mishraf District of Kuwait City. The video shows the Kuwaiti Emiri Guards how to protect important people in the event of an unexpected event like an assassination, not the Chinese embassy welcoming Saudi Arabia's defense minister who came to celebrate the Spring Festival with firecrackers.
Editor-in-Charge: Wang Liang
Proofreader: Shi Gong