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  • 2021-09-16 (xsd:date)
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  • Posts falsely claim Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was pictured wearing Chinese sneaker brand (en)
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  • A video has been viewed thousands of times on social media alongside a claim it shows Chinese tech giant Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, wearing an ankle monitor and sneakers made by a Chinese domestic brand. Other posts shared the same image of Meng alongside a similar claim. The claim circulated online after Meng wrapped up her fight in a Canadian court against extradition to the United States to face fraud charges in August 2021. But the claim is false: the posts in fact shared an image of Meng wearing sneakers produced by a California-based sportswear brand. The image was featured in this video published on September 1, 2021 on Chinese video sharing website Bilibili . It has been viewed more than 10,000 times. The video is titled: Meng Wanzhou is wearing sneakers from Hong Xing Erke Group, supporting our domestic brands. The video features a photo of Meng wearing an electronic ankle monitor and a pair of sneakers. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, has been living in a mansion in Vancouver on bail conditions that include a curfew and electronic monitoring, as she awaits the outcome of her extradition proceedings, AFP reported . The post claims the video shows her wearing shoes produced by China's domestic sportswear brand Erke . The video is set against a well-known patriotic song entitled My Chinese Heart , whose lyrics say that Chinese people living overseas will never forget that they are members of the family of the Chinese nation. The portion of the song used in the video says: Carrying the voice of China, even though she is not in her hometown, this will still remain unchanged. My heart belongs to China. Meng has been fighting extradition to the United States and stands accused of defrauding HSBC Bank by falsely misrepresenting connections between Huawei and Skycom, a subsidiary that sold telecoms equipment to Iran. This, according to the US Justice Department, put the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Tehran, as it continued to clear US dollar transactions for Huawei. Since the court proceedings against her began, Meng has increasingly been seen in China as a symbol of national rights and interests. An identical photo was shared on Weibo , the Chinese version of TikTok Douyin and Twitter alongside a similar claim. The photo was also embedded in reports by multiple online news blogs including INF news and KK news in reports about the sneakers. But the claim is false. A reverse image search on Google found a set of photos of Meng on August 6, 2021 published here on the website for IMAGO, a German independent photo agency. The set of photos includes the same image that was featured in the misleading video and a close-up of Meng's sneakers. A screenshot, taken on September 13, 2021, of the IMAGO photo. The photo's caption reads: Vancouver, BC, Canada: Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, leaves home to attend her extradition hearing at B.C. Supreme Court, in Vancouver, on Friday, August 6, 2021. Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo included in the misleading Bilibili video (L) and the IMAGO photo (R): A screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading video and the IMAGO photo. A follow-up reverse image search of the sneakers on Google has found that the same pair of shoes are featured here on the official site of Hoka One One, a California-based sportswear company. Hoka One One was founded in France in 2009 before it was sold to US-based company Decker Brands in 2013. The brand's French founders Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard were featured in this interview with US magazine Competitor Running published on April 2, 2013. A screenshot, taken on September 13, 2021, of the sneaker on Hoka One One official site. Below is a screenshot comparison of a close-up of Meng's sneakers published by IMAGO and the Hoka One One's sneaker (R) with similarities circled in red by AFP: A screenshot comparison of a close up photo that features Meng's shoes and the Hoka One One sneaker from the official site, with similarities circled in red by AFP. There is no such design of sneakers on Erke's official online store . Erke has gained in popularity domestically since it donated 50 million yuan worth of supplies following flooding in Zhengzhou, in China's central Henan province, in July. Erke has not immediately responded to AFP's queries on the misleading posts. CORRECTION: This article was updated on September 16, 2021 to clarify that the headquarters for Hoka One One has been based in California since 2013. (en)
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