This happened in 2012, but because it was recently unearthed by an ABS-CBN report, there’s renewed interest.



China and the Philippines have had a territorial tiff for some time now, and it seems that one Chinese news anchor even believes that the entire Philippines actually belongs to China.

TIME magazine reported that on May 7, 2012, an anchor for China’s state-run TV network CCTV, was speaking to a colleague on the late evening news. The news anchor supposedly remarked in Chinese: “We all know that the Philippines is China’s inherent territory, and the Philippines belongs to Chinese sovereignty. This is an indisputable fact.”

The report noted: “The unfortunate news clip, which has since been removed from CCTV’s website, was part of a report on a monthlong standoff between China and the Philippines over a remote shoal in the South China Sea, which both nations claim as their own.”

The clip, of course, has since re-emerged on social media after an ABS-CBN News report posted on May 13, 2016. We found a clip (watch below) with this note: “China Central Television (CCTV) news anchor declares that the Philippines is an inherent part of China’s sovereign territory at 1:35.”

Of course, the video clip is in Chinese so you’d have to ask for a little bit of help if you want to confirm what was said yourself. As for us, we’re relying on TIME magazine’s account from 2012.

Other reports later identified the erring CCTV news anchor as He Jia. “Viewers joked in online postings that the presenter’s nationalistic fervour led to her mistake. CCTV officials have refused to comment,” according to Radio Australia. Meanwhile, The Telegraph noted that “the presenter apparently meant to say that the Huangyan islands – known in the Philippines as the Scarborough Shoal, and claimed by both nations – is China’s territory.”

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