Blake Hall
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is circulating several images showcasing its soldiers’ camouflage capabilities. “Modern camouflage attire isn’t just limited to (civilians) wearing it, but also for use during warfare,” PLA spokesmen wrote in the post sharing the photos. “Have a look and test your eyes; in the following pictures, can you find the people in them?”
Some people did have a look at those pictures, and while testing their eyes they discovered one serious problem–the people in these photos are not Chinese. They aren’t even soldiers. They are American hunters photographed by well-known sporting goods retailer RealTree.
The awesome camouflage you see in these pictures does exist. It just isn’t made by or sold to the Chinese military.
The Nanfang translated the article on PLA Daily that originally shared these photos. While the Chinese military never claimed that the images showcased real Chinese soldiers, it added Chinese character watermarks to the photographs and failed to credit RealTree. Other Chinese news outlets took the post at face value and claimed that the photos actually were of Chinese servicemen.
Take a gander at this RealTree catalog page to see where the images really came from.