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The official poster from the Ministry of National Defence with what appears to be a Russian aircraft on its deck and two US amphibious vessels alongside. Photo: Weibo

Oops! Chinese defence ministry’s PLA poster a big Photoshop fail

It was supposed to be a visual celebration but an official poster to mark the 68th anniversary of the Chinese navy has instead been a massive Photoshop fail for the Ministry of National Defence.

The poster of the Liaoning, the country’s first aircraft carrier, was produced by the ministry and shared on its official microblog on Sunday.

It pictured the carrier sailing the ocean waves with a flotilla and under a bright blue sky, declaring: “Happy birthday, People’s Liberation Army Navy!”

But online commenters were quick to point out that instead of a Chinese jet crowning the vessel’s deck, the poster showed a Russian MiG-35 fighter aircraft.

On top of that, three jets pictured shooting off into the glorious skies were J-10 aircraft used by the country’s land-based forces – not the J-15s designated as carrier-based aircraft.

The errors were compounded by the decision to cut and paste in two ships sailing alongside the Liaoning – those vessels are US amphibious assault ships, not Chinese vessels.

Online commenters were quick to weigh in on the visual misfires.

“This picture shows everyone at the propaganda department is mentally deficient,” one wrote on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo.

Another said: “The officials are wrong! Go die! We are so patriotic in vain!”

Yet another complained about the overall quality of presentation.

“This poster is the standard of a street photocopy shop,” the commenter said.

The navy’s anniversary is particularly important for China as it coincides with the planned launch of its new domestically built aircraft carrier, an attempt by China to show off its naval and military strength.

The new aircraft carrier, which is still unnamed, will be launched once the tidal conditions are right at the dock in Dalian, China.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Photoshop fails torpedo ministry’s navy celebration
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