Defense Minister Wellington Gu said today that aerial photos of Hualien Air
Base that appeared recently in a video on Chinese social media were digitally
composed images.

He said they were not taken by a drone that flew over the military base.

The images appeared on Xiao-hong-shu on May 21st, a day after President Lai
Ching-te's first anniversary in office, raised concerns of an undetected
intrusion into Taiwan's air space.

The Defense Ministerdownplayed the images, saying that an internal analysis
found they were post-processed using 3D techniques and were not captured by a
drone intruding into the military base.

The Air Force, meanwhile, said there was no drone intrusion into the Hualien
base, but Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Qing-ran (李慶然) acknowledged they
could be difficult to detect.

He added that once anti-drone systems are in place, "any drone intrusions
will definitely be detected."

(JL)