On December 29, the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese Communist Party launched the “Just Mission-2025” military exercise around Taiwan, and released a video through CCTV showing a “drone overlooking Taipei 101” building. Military experts in Taiwan quickly pointed out that the footage was actually captured by a surveillance camera on Bi Shan Rock in Taiwan. The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense described this as a “classic cognitive warfare,” emphasizing that “large drones do not violate our airspace beyond 24 nautical miles.”
The video released by CCTV on the evening of the 29th showing the “drone overlooking Taipei 101” has attracted attention. The military fan page “New • 27th Division” quickly pointed out that these images were actually captured by the surveillance camera on Bi Shan Rock in Taiwan, and not by the Chinese military drones.
The fan page stated, “Taking images from others’ surveillance cameras as drone aerial photographs, is this to comfort their fragile hearts? It seems like the mainland media now needs such false and deceptive acts to deceive their own audience? If you want to show military might, can’t you be more serious?”
Taiwanese netizens commented, “No, CCTV got the height of the drone footage wrong, right?” “Any plane flying from north to south, landing in Taoyuan or Songshan, can take such a photo.” “This is their nature, everything is fake.” “It’s basically for domestic consumption.”
The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense released a statement on social media, calling it a “classic cognitive warfare” and urging the public not to be manipulated, emphasizing that “large drones do not violate our airspace beyond 24 nautical miles, and the military continues to monitor day and night.”
According to a report by SET News Network, Su Ziyun, Director of the Strategic and Resources Institute for National Defense Security in Taiwan, analyzed that the viewpoint and height released by China overlapped with Bi Shan Rock, not ruling out the possibility of manipulated videos. “Regardless of the authenticity of the footage, its effect is psychological warfare.”
The “Just Mission-2025” exercise organized by the Chinese Communist Party’s Eastern Theater Command involved land, naval, air, and missile forces in the Taiwan Strait, northern Taiwan, southwestern, southeastern, and eastern sea areas. The Chinese military announced that they would conduct a “significant military exercise and organize live ammunition firing in the surrounding waters and airspace of Taiwan from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the 30th.”
A spokesperson for the Office of the President of the Republic of China strongly condemned the unilateral provocations by the Chinese Communist Party and stated that the national military and security units were fully aware of the relevant dynamics in advance, prepared comprehensively to ensure national and public safety.
The Ministry of National Defense stated in a press release that the continuous military provocations and disinformation operations by China around Taiwan pose complex threats, which are the main cause of disrupting regional peace, employing threats of military aggression and false information.
Su Ziyun, Director of the Strategic and Resources Institute for National Defense Security in Taiwan, told Dajiyuan that the Chinese military exercise is mainly due to the increased international support for Taiwan, including the national security strategy reports from the new U.S. government, relevant laws and arms sales, Taiwan’s diplomatic breakthrough in Europe, and the pro-Taiwan faction winning the presidential election in Honduras, all of which have made China dissatisfied.
Amidst the atmosphere of Chinese verbal attacks and military intimidation, the Taiwanese stock market was not affected in the morning of the 29th but rather reached a new historical high once again. The Taiwan Stock Exchange opened with a slight rise of 106.77 points, which later expanded to 129.17 points, setting a new historical high.