China accuses US Navy of ‘cognitive warfare’ after ‘unusual’ photo emerges

The photo shows two naval officers with their feet up

Chinese commentators have accused US officials of 'cognitive warfare' after the Navy published a photo showing two naval officers with their feet up looking at a Chinese aircraft carrier. One Hong Kong newspaper said, according to The Independent, that the photo sends one clear message to China: 'We're watching you.' Lu Li-shih, a former teacher at the Republic of China Naval Academy, told the South China Morning Post:

This staged photograph is definitely ‘cognitive warfare’ to show the US doesn’t regard the People’s Liberation Army as an immediate threat.

He went on to say that the body language of the officers in the photo show how little fear the Chinese warship inspires in the US Navy. "In the photo, Commander Briggs looks very relaxed with his feet up watching the Liaoning ship just a few thousand yards away, while his deputy is also sitting beside him, showing they take their PLA counterparts lightly," he said. However, some experts believe that the very existence of an image at all proves that there is indeed some level of concern regarding Chinese naval activities. American journalist Chris Cavas, said that the US doesn't usually photograph or chronicle its monitoring of ships in this way. https://twitter.com/CavasShips/status/1381072760567386112 Not long after this debate began around the image, it was pulled from the official Navy press page, presumably out of concern for diplomatic repercussions. It is still visible on the official Navy photo gallery, however, so concerns can't be running too high. Maybe China's analysis isn't too far wrong after all.