A Photo Depicting Hun Manet Carrying the Vietnamese Flag Digitally Edited
After he was announced to be the successor of his father Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodian Army Chief Hun Manet has been targeted by claims and rumors. Of them, a photo depicting him carrying the Vietnamese flag and walking in front of soldiers was circulated on social media. The photo had been widely shared and commented on by social media users, believing it is real. However, running a Google Reverse Image Search proves the photo was digitally edited.
SOCIAL MEDIAL CLAIM
A photo depicting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s oldest son Hun Manet – the incumbent chief of the country’s army – carrying the Vietnamese flag in front of saluting soldiers was circulated on social media some years ago but resurfaced last week.
The photo caption in Khmer questioned why the Cambodian army chief carried the Vietnamese flag in a military parade on his territory. This implied that some social media users believed the photo is real.
Below is the capture of the photo and the caption posted on May 11, 2019, saying “I don’t understand why Cambodian important figures preferred carrying the Vietnamese flag on their territory; no flag of Cambodia has been carried on Vietnam.”
The same photo was also circulated three years ago with a caption saying Hun Manet and the country’s defense minister Tea Banh were arrested by Vietnam as a reaction from the neighboring country to a joint Cambodia-China military drill.
The post had been shared more than 1,500 times and gotten a lot of comments and reactions expressed by Khmer-speaking Facebook users.
Below is the capture of the Facebook post on April 09, 2020, saying “Breaking: As Yuon [Vietnam] was angry with Cambodia after a military exercise with China, Hun Manet and Tea Banh were arrested by Vietnam. That’s why Hun Sen had tried to speak a lot about the coronavirus.”
The photo was also circulated on Facebook by other social media users. Please visit the links here (archived) or here (archived), and here (archived).
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began debunking the photo by running a Google Reverse Image Search which led us to find out the facts below.
A photo depicting Hun Manet carrying a big flag and walking in front of saluting soldiers was found in a BlogSpot named Royal Cambodia Army which published many photos of the 20th Anniversary of the Cambodian army inception.
The photo is seen Hun Manet carrying the Cambodian flag; it’s not the Vietnamese flag as the Facebook post. Please see the photo below we captured from BlogSpot.
Also, we provide a compared image below for your consideration.
The 20th anniversary of the inception of the Cambodian Army General Headquarters was held on the outskirt of the capital city of Phnom Penh on January 24, 2019, according to a report published on the defense ministry’s site (archived).
Below is the capture of the photo depicting Hun Manet carrying the Cambodian flag in a military parade as part of the celebration.
And below is the video of the celebration which was published in early 2019 on the YouTube channel of the Press Reaction Unit of the Office of Council of Ministers.
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found the photo mentioned earlier was digitally edited. The original photo depicts Cambodian Army Chief Hun Manet – Prime Minister Hun Sen’s oldest son – carrying the Cambodian flag and walking in a military parade in early 2019.
Title:A Photo Depicting Hun Manet Carrying the Vietnamese Flag Digitally Edited
Written By: Jay UdomResult: Altered
