Taiwan's defense ministry is defending its use of training videos made by a sitting lawmaker, saying the content predates this year's elections and has no political motive.

• The videos feature Taiwan People's Party-criticized lawmaker Sun Bing-yao, who recorded material on disinformation and "cognitive warfare" back in 2023 while teaching at National Taipei University, before he became a legislator.
• The ministry says the footage is used in new recruit training and reservist refresher courses as media-literacy material, covering topics like how TikTok could threaten national security.
• Opposition lawmakers pressed the defense minister on why a now-sitting ruling-party lawmaker's material is still being shown to troops, questioning the selection process for military education guest speakers.
• The minister pushed back, noting a opposition lawmaker was also invited to appear in military programming this year, arguing guests are picked for expertise, not party affiliation, and that the military remains politically neutral.

Outlook: The issue is likely to keep surfacing in legislative questioning, but the ministry shows no sign of pulling the material given upcoming local elections.