Recently, a high-profile operation to rescue the crew members of a downed aircraft during the U.S.-Iran conflict drew global attention, ultimately resulting in a successful U.S. military rescue. However, on April 5, Chinese state media claimed that the U.S. rescue mission “failed” and multiple aircraft were shot down, prompting widespread ridicule from netizens both domestically and abroad.
Iran quickly released alleged wreckage photos and, through official media and commercial channels, offered rewards and encouraged civilians to help capture the missing crew members. The U.S. military immediately launched an intensive search-and-rescue operation, deploying Pave Hawk helicopters and C-130 Hercules transport planes for coordinated search efforts.
At midnight on April 4, U.S. President Trump posted on the Truth Social platform, announcing that the other crew member of the downed F-15E had been successfully rescued. Trump said: “We will never abandon a single American warrior!”
Trump also said: “We were able to successfully complete both of these operations, with not a single American killed and not even one injured. This once again proves that we have achieved overwhelming air superiority and dominance over Iranian skies. We truly have the most outstanding, most professional, and most lethal military in the history of the world.”
Looking further at the numerous reports by Chinese state media, they have been widely ridiculed by netizens both inside and outside China.
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On April 5, Chinese state media Xinhua reported that the Iranian military claimed the U.S. rescue mission “failed” and that multiple aircraft were shot down. Iranian media also claimed that several U.S. soldiers died during the rescue operation, and that the U.S. attempted to destroy the wreckage of the downed aircraft and even the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
On the same day, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV News reported that multiple Iranian agencies had conducted joint operations to destroy several U.S. aircraft involved in the pilot rescue mission.
In response, mainland Chinese netizens commented:
- “Not a single word from the Iranian rogue regime can be trusted.”
- “Clearly fake news!”
- “Iran is full of lies, just deceiving its own people.”
- “It always feels like Iran’s news is inflated.”
- “They’re still sharing news from Iran’s rumor-mongering media.”
- “You actually believe the media of those fraudsters? They already posted extensive photos long ago.”
Other netizens said:
- “Iranian media is unreliable because it will bow to power.”
- “Iran is full of lies! After the two U.S. pilots were successfully rescued, Iran lost face! All they can do is spread more rumors.”
- “Stop bragging, okay? The people were rescued; now they’re just trying to save face.”
On X (formerly Twitter), users posted:
- “Only the most despicable and shameless people would think of killing their own to cover it up.”
- “They’re treating the U.S. like it’s China—this is truly judging others by one’s own small-mindedness.”
- “Think about the difference between Chinese volunteer army POWs returning home and U.S. military POWs returning home.”
- “Because if the PLA were captured, they wouldn’t rescue them; they’d just let them become ‘glorious.’”
- “Only the CCP could do something like this.”
