Since the incursion of 19 Russian drones into Polish airspace on September 10, international attention has turned to how Poland and NATO would respond.
In China, some social media posts quickly and inaccurately claimed that Poland was about to become the first European country to officially deploy troops to neighboring Ukraine. Where did this narrative originate, and why did it spread? DW Fact check takes a look.
Claim: DW identified several videos on the Chinese social media platform Haokanspreading false news that Poland had sent troops to Ukraine. The Chinese online outlet Hot Newsreported: "In the early morning of September 12, Poland suddenly released blockbuster news. Poland officially announced that it would send troops to Ukraine."
DW Fact check: False
The article, under the headline shown above, cited Russian state news agency TASS, claiming that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had "explicitly stated his willingness to accept [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy's proposal to send troops to Ukraine" and spoke of a "landmark event” as Poland became "the first NATO country to publicly announce its intention to send troops to Ukraine."
Similar reports appeared in video form on the Chinese social network Weibo, with one video garnering over 20,000 views before being deleted this week. Another video claimed the "conflict escalated" as "Poland announced that it would send troops to Ukraine."
The reports appear to stem from...
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