Taiwan minister calls air base images on Chinese platform 'composites'

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Aerial photos of Hualien Air Base that appeared recently in a video on Chinese social media were digitally composed images and not taken by a drone that flew over the military base, Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Monday.

The images appeared on Xiaohongshu (rednote in English) on May 21, a day after President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) first anniversary in office, and seemed to be aerial shots taken by a drone, raising concerns of an undetected intrusion into Taiwan's air space.

They were highlighted in a video that used graphics to identify different structures on the air base, such as barracks and hangars, and also showed general distances and other features.

Speaking to the media before a legislative hearing, Koo downplayed the images, saying that an internal analysis found they were post-processed using 3D compositing techniques and were not captured by a drone intruding into or filming outside the military base.

During the legislative session, Koo was asked by lawmakers if the video was part of a cognitive warfare campaign by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and he said it did contain certain such elements.

He said the military's political warfare units and spokesperson system needed to respond swiftly and assertively to counter such actions.

The Air Force, meanwhile, said there was no drone intrusion into the Hualien base, but Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Ching-jan (李慶然) acknowledged they could be difficult to detect, especially given that Taiwan's installation of anti-drones systems had yet to be completed.

Fielding lawmakers' questions whether the military is currently capable of visually detecting drones, Lee said visual detection was extremely difficult at higher altitudes and complex backgrounds, and made even more difficult given that most drones are relatively small in size.

Lee said that the construction of both active and passive defense systems began in 2022, and parts of the bases where the systems will be located have been established.

Once all the facilities are fully equipped, "any drone intrusions will definitely be detected," Lee said, but he did not say when these anti-drone systems will be completed and fully activated.

When asked at the hearing about the progress of the Army's procurement of 26 sets of anti-drone systems, Army Chief of Staff Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) said those systems were primarily for Taiwan's outlying islands.

The procurement and production agreement was approved in early April, with the first batch of 13 systems scheduled for delivery in early October, he said, and the second batch is set for delivery in 2026.