FACT CHECK: Are ‘Chinese UN Peacekeeping Forces’ Training At Camp Grayling In Michigan?
A post shared on Facebook claims Chinese troops are training at Camp Grayling in Michigan at the behest of the U.N.
Verdict: False
There is no evidence to support this claim. Spokespeople for the National Guard and United Nations (U.N.) refuted it.
Fact Check:
The post shows what appears to be a Sept. 2 article titled, “Chinese UN Peacekeeping Forces Are Now Training at Camp Grayling In Michigan.” The text of the article goes on to state that “at the behest of the United Nations, the Chinese military has crossed our northern border and are currently in Michigan” and that Chinese troops are now “occupying an area called Camp Grayling.” Camp Grayling is a joint maneuver training center in Grayling, Michigan and the largest National Guard training facility in the country, according to the Michigan National Guard’s website.
While the Chinese do, according to the U.N. website, participate in peacekeeping operations, there is no evidence any U.N. operation or training is occurring in Michigan. The U.N. is currently responsible for 12 peacekeeping operations globally, none of which are in the U.S., according to its website. There is likewise no mention of any U.N. or Chinese military operations or training occurring in Michigan on the Department of Defense’s website or the U.N.’s website.
A spokesperson for the National Guard said in an email to Check Your Fact that the claims in the post are “completely false.”A U.N. spokesperson also described the report as “false” in an email to Check Your Fact. (RELATED: Did The UN Announce It Will Become A ‘World Religion’?)
The article visible in the post appears to originate with The Common Sense Show, a website that, according to PolitiFact, once shared a false claim about Pope Francis calling for worldwide gun confiscation. The article goes on to claim the Chinese military is in Michigan as part of an imminent U.N. takeover of the U.S. that was previously rehearsed during Jade Helm, a large-scale multi-state military exercise that occurred in the U.S. in 2015. The exercise, however, only involved the U.S. Armed Forces, according to a 2015 press release from the U.S. Army.