The circulating video splices together unrelated footage.
Fact-check reporter: Tseng Hui-wen
Managing editor: Chen Wei-ting
The original publication can be read here.
A video recently circulating on social media platforms claims that “French citizens held a parade to mourn the Nanjing Massacre.” Upon verification, a civil group in France did indeed organize a parade in June this year to commemorate the Nanjing Massacre, with several dozen people taking part; however, the circulating video splices together unrelated footage taken from France’s National Day military parade, D-Day commemoration events, and other unrelated sources.
- In June 2026, a civil group did indeed organize a parade in Paris to mourn the Nanjing Massacre, but the actual number of participants, the marchers’ clothing, and the on-site footage all differ from those shown in the circulating video.
- Part of the footage in the circulating video comes from France’s 2022 National Day military parade, and part is taken from the 2024 ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings—neither of which is connected to the purported Nanjing Massacre commemoration.
The circulating video stitches together unrelated footage and claims it shows French citizens parading to mourn the Nanjing Massacre. It is therefore “spliced-together” false information.
Background
A video recently circulating on social media platforms claims that people in Paris marched in 38-degree heat to mourn the Nanjing Massacre, with participants consisting mainly of local French residents, along with Chinese international students and overseas Chinese.
Fact-check
Does the circulating video show “French citizens parading to mourn the Nanjing Massacre”?
The circulating video does not match the actual parade footage
Using the keywords “Paris,” “parade,” and “Nanjing” in a Google search, the fact-checking center found related reports and video records from outlets including CCTV, Euro TV, CGTN’s French-language channel, and The Nanjinger.
According to the aforementioned reports, on June 27, 2026, the French civil organization “Echoes of China” held a parade in Paris to mourn the Nanjing Massacre, with participants wearing black tops and carrying black flags.
Upon comparison, the scenes of the actual parade, the number of participants, and the color of their clothing do not match the circulating video, indicating that it is spliced together from unrelated footage.
The circulating video appropriates footage from France’s National Day military parade and the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings
After taking a screenshot of the scenes in the circulating video showing people in military uniform and the French flag and running a reverse Google image search, the fact-checking center found identical footage in a video uploaded on July 15, 2022, by France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, showing the National Day military parade held the previous day, on July 14.
In addition, after taking a screenshot of the scenes in the circulating video showing a black-and-white portrait and a recitation, and running a reverse Google image search, the fact-checking center found the exact same footage in a news video published on June 6, 2024, by the French media outlet CNews.
The report reveals that this was a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. A number of commemorative activities were held that day, including a recitation of the farewell letter that French resistance fighter Ferdinand Malardé wrote to his parents on February 25, 1944, before being executed by firing squad for resisting German forces.
From this, it can be concluded that the circulating video is spliced from the 2022 French National Day military parade and the 2024 ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings — neither of which is connected to the circulating claim of “mourning the Nanjing Massacre.”
Reposted from the TFC website in collaboration with StopFake as part of the Ukraine–Taiwan Initiative for Election Information Resilience.
