The Chinese consulate in Melbourne said it had received no reports of a Chinese citizen being arrested over arson in Australia

Copyright AFP 2017-2020. All rights reserved.

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts alongside a claim that it shows a Chinese national arrested for arson over bushfires in Australia. The claim is false; the Chinese consulate in Melbourne said it had received no reports about a Chinese citizen being arrested over the Australian bushfires; the video was captured by Australian television channel 7NEWS and does not mention the suspect’s nationality.

The video was shared in this Facebook post on January 15, 2020. It has been viewed more than 200,000 times.

The 11-second video shows a handcuffed man being taken into a vehicle by police. The 7NEWS logo can be seen on the video, with the text “EXCLUSIVE”.

The voiceover on the video says: “In the middle of the bushfire emergency, a 36-year-old appeared at Bairnsdale Court, accused of deliberately lighting a fire at Johnsonville overnight. He’s been denied bail.”

The Bairnsdale Magistrates' Court is located in Bairnsdale, a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, where more than a dozen bushfires were burning at the same time late December 2019, according to this AFP report.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post

The traditional Chinese-language caption translates to English as: “[Breaking] One of the arsonists who set off the Australian bushfires, a Chinese national, was arrested. The so-called climate change may in fact be another yellow peril.

"The Australian government has caught a deliberate arsonist from China. In order to retaliate against the Australian government for protecting a Chinese spy defected to Australia and influencing Taiwan's election, he set fires to multiple forests. As a result, firefighters worked their fingers to the bone.

"Up until now, more than 100 million wild animals in Australia have been killed by the biggest and most intense fire in human history. Some of the species are facing extinction.”

At least 32 people, including three US firefighters, have died in Australia during deadly bushfires that started in September 2019, as reported here by AFP on January 23, 2020.

The same video and keyframes from it were also shared here and here on Facebook, here on Twitter and here on Instagram, alongside a similar claim.

The video has been shared in a misleading context; a spokesperson for the Chinese consulate in Melbourne said it was not informed of any arson arrest involving a Chinese citizen in Australia; the video was captured as part of a report by Australian television channel 7NEWS, which did not mention the suspect’s nationality.

Translated to English, a January 24 email from the Chinese consulate in Melbourne to AFP states: "At the moment, our consulate has not received any notification from Victoria Police regarding the arrest of a Chinese citizen over arson in Australia."

A keyword search on Google found this video filmed by and published on the verified Facebook account of Australian broadcaster 7NEWS Melbourne on January 2, 2020.

The clip in the misleading posts corresponds with the 7NEWS clip from the five-minute 10-second mark.

Below are two sets of screenshot comparison of keyframes from the video in the misleading post (L) and 7NEWS video (R):

A screenshot comparison of the videos

AFP found this tweet published on January 2, 2020, on the official account of Australia’s Victoria Police about an arson arrest in the same area as mentioned in the 7NEWS video.

Police arrested and charged a man last night following reports he allegedly started a small fire in Johnsonville about 6.45pm. → https://t.co/RTaUf7nyOj pic.twitter.com/7hBubkQRPk — Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) January 1, 2020

The tweet states: “Police arrested and charged a man last night following reports he allegedly started a small fire in Johnsonville about 6.45pm.”

Victoria Police’s media officer Cameron Scott told AFP by email on January 17, 2020, that police would not confirm details of the suspect’s nationality for privacy reasons.

“We don’t have that information on hand and we wouldn’t be able to confirm due to the limitations of the Privacy Act,” said Scott.

“I can tell you the accused will appear at the Bairnsdale Magistrates’ Court on 1 April. The details you are looking for might come to light during this court hearing.”

The man was described as Australian in reports published by the Latin Times here and the MailOnline, the website for UK-based newspaper The Daily Mail, here.