As Beijing and Washington staged rival military exercises in the disputed South China Sea, a digitally manipulated image was shared in a YouTube video viewed thousands of times that falsely claimed Philippine and US coast guard vessels "joined forces" against a Chinese ship. The video, presented like a news report, claimed this occurred during a maritime patrol of a disputed atoll to the west of the Philippines in January 2024. But the image in fact combines a photo taken of US and Philippine coast guard vessels during a joint military exercise in June 2023 with a separate photo of a Chinese ship taken in April 2017.

"China, US and Philippine Coast Guard clashed at the South China Sea / Joined forces to stop the CCG..." reads the Tagalog-language title of a YouTube video that has been viewed more than 33,000 times since it was shared on January 15, 2024.

It shows three ships: those that belonged to the US and Philippine coast guards in the foreground, with their country flags above them, and what appears to be a Chinese coast guard vessel in the background with its flag above it.

The video's Tagalog-language narration cites an unnamed source as saying "large ships from the US Coast Guard and Philippine Coast Guard went to Ayungin Shoal the other day while they were patrolling the West Philippine Sea."

Manila refers to the waters immediately to its west as the West Philippine Sea. Ayungin Shoal is the Philippine name for Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from China's nearest major landmass of Hainan island.

The video was also shared on Facebook and generated a separate reaction video.

The YouTube video begins with a disclaimer that its content is "purely for entertainment purposes" and some information is "not fully verified", but comments on the video suggest users believed there had been a naval confrontation.

"The US can't take on China. That's just posturing; they're afraid of the Chinese," read one comment.

Another said: "Once the joint maritime exercises between PH and US ends, for sure, the [China Coast Guard's] harassment will resume."

The video was shared after US and Philippine forces conducted a  two-day joint military exercise in early January.

The drills followed tense standoffs between Beijing and Manila in disputed reefs that saw vessels from the two countries collide and Chinese ships blast water cannon at Philippine boats.

China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, condemned the exercise as "provocative military activities", and held its own "live fire drills" over the contested waters.

But the image shared on YouTube was created by combining two unrelated photos, and there have been no official reports of such a standoff occurring at the atoll.

Composite image

A reverse image search coupled with keyword searches on Google led to separate photos published in April 2017 and June 2023.

The Philippine and US coast guard vessels were pictured together by Reuters on June 6, 2023, during trilateral maritime exercises involving the United States, the Philippines and Japan 

Similar photos were also captured by  The Associated Press and AFP .

Below is a screenshot comparison of the altered image (left) and the Reuters photo (right):

Its caption reads: "Philippine Coast Guard's BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702) and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) participate in drills during the first trilateral coast guard exercise between the Philippines, Japan, and the U.S., at the coast of Bataan, Philippines, in the South China Sea."

According to the US Navy, neither the Stratton nor the Melchora Aquino participated in the January 2024 military exercise 

The Chinese coast guard vessel inserted between these two ships in the altered image was lifted from a separate Reuters photo taken on April 6, 2017 .

Below is a screenshot comparison of the altered image (left) and the Reuters photo (right):

Its caption says it was shot at the disputed Scarborough Shoal. 

As of January 23, there have been no official reports about Philippine and US vessels jointly confronting a Chinese coast guard ship near the disputed atoll.