Rumor: China's soldiers in Tibet with explosives in their helmets

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the main military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Apparently the helmets of PLA soldiers in Tibet are now equipped with explosives and a self-destruct button - at least that's what a widely circulated video claims. But behind the rumor is the Falun Gong movement, which is viewed as an “evil cult” in China and which, among other things, is behind the “Epoch Times” website, which has often attracted attention with false reports.

The claim

The claim has recently been spread through a YouTube channel called “Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov” (which sounds trustworthy at first) :

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The video claims:

“Did you know that China equips its soldiers with helmets that have a self-destruct button? Let me repeat: Chinese soldiers stationed in Tibet are being equipped with helmets that have a self-destruct button. When you press the button, a bomb embedded in the helmet explodes, killing the soldier.”

The self-destruct button is there so that soldiers can kill themselves before they are captured. If they don't trigger it themselves or a soldier deserts, the bomb in the helmet could also be triggered remotely by a commander.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

Common claim, one source only

A simple Google search for “china self destruct helmets” quickly shows that the supposedly current video is not that current: in January 2021, two years ago, it first appeared on various sites, for example HERE and HERE .

It gets interesting when you look at the sources of the respective pages, because they always lead to a single article: that of the “Epoch Times” from January 11, 2021 (see HERE , archived HERE ). This also names a source, namely a Chinese state website, on which this is said to have been stated.

The section with the helmets and the self-destruct button was reportedly later deleted from the article. However, another Chinese site copied the text, but this article also disappeared and is only available in the archive.

That sounds like a conspiracy that the “Epoch Times” apparently uncovered, doesn’t it? Does China want to cover up the helmets with integrated bombs? Let's check that out right away!

The original article

According to the Epoch Times, the claim first appeared in an article on the state-run website Observer (Chinese: 观察者) on December 27, 2020, but was deleted hours later. The article can be found HERE , an archived version from December 29, 2020 can be found HERE .

The article actually talks about modified helmets, but not a word about bombs and self-destruct buttons. Since, according to the Epoch Times, the relevant paragraph just hours later , there is no evidence that it was ever there.

The alleged copy of the article

However, “Epoch Times” cites another source: One site is said to have saved the article beforehand. The page was also deleted, but can still be found in the archive (see HERE ).

But it quickly becomes obvious that this is not a copy of the “Observer” article, but just a short introduction about modified helmets, supplemented by the claim that there are explosive devices in them.

Also interesting is the note at the end of the article from the site “3g.163.com”: “ Note: The above content (including images and videos, if any) was uploaded and posted by a user of NetEase Hao, a social media site -Platform that only provides information storage services. “

Like many other articles on “3g.163.com”, it is user-generated content, i.e. news that anyone can post there. The truthfulness is not checked.

Another article about the bomb in the helmet

But there is another article written in Chinese about the alleged bombs in the Chinese helmets, apparently from a real news site.

An article about this also appeared on “New Tang Dynasty Television” (see HERE This uses the above-mentioned user-generated content from NetEase Hao as a source and describes some reactions to it on social media, which, however, were not linked.

There's a good reason why US-based New Tang Dynasty Television doesn't just use Epoch Times as a source: they don't necessarily want to name the Falun Gong movement's well-known media outlet. Strictly speaking, they don't want to themselves as a source, because New Tang Dynasty Television was founded and operated by the Falun Gong movement .

Back to the YouTube video for a moment

We mentioned above that the name of the channel, “Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov”, which published the video a few days ago, sounds quite trustworthy. But that changes when you watch more videos from the channel and then finally take a look at the header :

The YouTube channel that supposedly provides facts belongs to “Epoch Times”, i.e. the Falun Gong movement. The video simply repeats the two-year-old claim made by its own news site.

How useful are bombs in China's helmets?

Finally, let's take another look at the logic: Does it make any sense that there are bombs with a self-destruct button hidden in the helmets of China's soldiers, which can also be triggered remotely if necessary? No!

• Explosives in the helmet would only make it unnecessarily heavy. This would unnecessarily hinder the soldier and combat efficiency would be reduced.
• Supposedly the helmet even has systems for requesting artillery and air support (although this is not stated in the original article on the Chinese site!). This makes no sense at all, since only very few soldiers, especially no reserve forces in western China, would have the authority to do this.
• Explosives in a helmet is a contradiction in terms and eliminates the entire usefulness of a helmet. Soldiers can fall unhappily, helmets can easily be hit by bullets. The protective function of a helmet is therefore more of a danger.
• Despite the many articles about China's helmets, which ultimately always lead to the Falun Gong movement, there is not a single photo or circuit diagram of this helmet, and no reputable media reports about it and/or has more information.
• A helmet is not attached to your head. Soldiers also occasionally take it off. Then why shouldn't a deserter or captured soldier simply take off their helmet before deserting or when captured? Then the whole remote control explosion story would be reduced to absurdity.

Conclusion

There is no evidence that helmets with explosive devices and self-destruct buttons exist in China. All sources go back to an article in the “Epoch Times” from January 2021, which belongs to the Falun Gong movement, which repeatedly spreads false reports about China based on its past.

One can have a lot of confidence in China, but all sources always lead back to the Falun Gong movement, which is critical of China. But in the two years since the claim first emerged, there has been no evidence or reports from other media outlets that such a helmet even exists.

Also interesting: A politician mocks on Facebook and Telegram about the fact that carousel cars, matchbox cars and bobby cars are apparently now being banned in Osnabrück.
But the self-proclaimed graduate of the “high school of life” is actually just spreading an old satirical article. – Carousel cars will not be banned in Osnabrück!