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Jilin-1 releases high-resolution satellite images of Taiwan island, showcasing mainland's tech capacities and warning 'Taiwan independence' separatists: expert

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: Oct 27, 2025 05:28 PM

Amid a series of activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration, the commercial satellite "Jilin-1" released satellite images of Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, and Port of Taipei, which an expert on military affairs said demonstrate mainland's high-tech developments, and some Taiwan compatriots regarded it as the pride of the Chinese nation.

The official WeChat account "Jilin-1" published an article titled "A satellite view of Taiwan Province of China," stating that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China" and every inch of Taiwan Province is full of vitality from the space perspective of "Jilin-1."

When overlooking Sun Moon Lake from space, the lakes were like jade inlaid in the mountains, with scattered villages around, showing the tranquility and grandeur of the natural landscape in Taiwan island. The images show the operating docks of the Port of Taipei are arranged in sequence along the reclaimed land, and the containers and transportation lines forming a busy logistics picture. This important commercial port in Taiwan Province faces Fuzhou Port on the Chinese mainland across the sea and has become an important node in the cross-Straits shipping network.

Taiwan news outlets including udn.com and China Times have noticed the release. The report by China News was titled "Every street is clearly visible! Mainland's 'Jilin-1' satellite sees Taiwan through."

Chinese military affairs expert Zhang Junshe told the Global Times on Monday that even civilian satellites can detect these facilities so clear; military satellites, with much higher resolution, are certainly even more capable.

This sends a message to "Taiwan independence" separatists that your activities and maneuverers are within the scope of monitoring. That is a warning to the separatist forces, Zhang said.

This satellite platform also showcases the systematic development of the Chinese mainland's high-tech capabilities in recent years, which was supposed to promote shared prosperity across the Taiwan Straits, Zhang said.

However, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been creating an "information cocoon" for Taiwan residents, indoctrinating them with false claims like "the mainland is backward," "high-speed trains have no backrest," and "people can't even afford tea eggs." With these high-resolution satellite images, ordinary Taiwan people will be able to see clearly that the mainland is making remarkable progress in high-tech, the expert added.

Chi Chia-lin, honorary chairman of the Reunification Alliance Party in Taiwan who is in Beijing participating in a series of activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration, told the Global Times that he felt very familiar and excited after seeing these satellite images. "I study Taiwan history and have been comparing historical place names in Taiwan by looking at maps all year round. But the maps I used before were still the topographic maps of Taiwan released by US satellites in the 1960s and 1970s. This time, seeing the maps taken by the mainland, I am extremely excited. This is the pride of the Chinese nation."

A former consultant to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, told the Global Times that "China has taken the lead in the world in terms of BeiDou navigation system, space technology, drones, radar. The development of military equipment is even more amazing."

China's high-tech development should be shared across the Taiwan Straits, but now the DPP authorities have repeatedly incited hatred and put the high-tech of the Chinese mainland in opposition to the safety and well-being of the Taiwan residents, which is wrong and futile, said the consultant. He further added that the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits will provide a powerful driving force for the Chinese nation. "Only in this way can Taiwan avoid being blackmailed by foreign forces."

China on Sunday sent a new Gaofen-14 02 satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in its Southwestern Sichuan Province. This satellite is capable of efficiently acquiring high-precision stereo imagery on a global scale, providing fundamental geographic information support for national economic development and national defense construction, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Recently, several units of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command Air Force have carried out actual combat training to test the troops' reconnaissance and early warning, air blockade, precise strike and other capabilities in key areas, CCTV Military reported Monday. Several J-10 fighter jets flew to a target airspace in a combat formation, and several H-6K bombers went to the sea and airspace around the Taiwan Island to carry out simulated confrontation training.

Zheng Jian, a visiting professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times that this move can be regarded as part of the activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration, a necessary act to safeguard the post-World War II order, a just act to support the patriotic forces in the island in support of reunification, and a severe warning to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.