On October 28-29, a video was shared on Threads and Facebook accounts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) showing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock disembarking from a plane. The post authors claim that the video captures her latest visit to China, where no Chinese government officials welcomed her at the airport. According to one account, this was because Baerbock allegedly called the Chinese president a dictator.
Social media users are sharing manipulative footage about Annalena Baerbock. In reality, the footage depicts the German minister’s visit to Malaysia in January 2024, during which the plane was mistakenly parked in the wrong location.
This video, with a false description, has been widely shared across various social media platforms over the past few days. Some claimed the footage was taken in China, while others argued it was filmed during Baerbock’s visit to India. India Today’s fact-checking team established that the video was in fact recorded during Baerbock’s visit to Malaysia, where the plane was parked in the wrong spot, which is why it appeared as though no one was there to greet her. Notably, she last visited China in April 2023 and was in India from October 24-26, 2024, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “Myth Detector” traced one of the earliest sources of this video to social media platform X, where it was uploaded on January 19, 2024. The post description states that the video depicts Baerbock’s visit to Southeast Asia.
Comparing the video uploaded in January to the one shared in recent days reveals that both depict the same event, although filmed from different angles. In both videos, Baerbock is wearing identical clothing, the same people are visible near the airplane exit and walkway, and the airport setting is the same.
This manipulative video about Annalena Baerbock went viral across different platforms, prompting a statement from a representative of the German Foreign Ministry at a government briefing, clarifying that the footage depicts Baerbock’s visit to Malaysia. Due to a misunderstanding, the pilot mistakenly parked the plane in the wrong spot. During this time, local government representatives were waiting slightly farther away, and Baerbock had to walk a short distance to meet them.
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