Taiwan's defense minister calls China's satellite images of Taipei on handover anniversary 'cognitive warfare'

Taiwan's Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Tuesday that China was waging "cognitive warfare" after Chinese state broadcaster CCTV released satellite footage of Taipei landmarks, including the National Palace Museum and Taipei Dome, on October 25, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency and Reuters. The date marks the 1945 handover of Taiwan from Japanese rule to the Republic of China government, which Beijing commemorates as the island's "restoration." China's military Eastern Theater Command also published a poster showing a map of Taiwan with fighter jets and warships, Reuters reported.

Koo told reporters at the legislature that the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 and had no connection to the war against Japan. He said the defense ministry was closely monitoring satellite imagery and would keep military assets concealed, mobile and dispersed, Central News Agency reported.

Why it matters: Beijing and Taipei both mark the anniversary but draw opposite conclusions from it, and the dispute over that shared history is a recurring source of cross-strait tension.