The incident came after Taipei said it would start shooting down China’s unmanned aircraft
Taiwan’s Army Command said on Tuesday that its soldiers fired live warning shots at a “batch”Drones flew over Erdan Island, and the craft then returned to China. Taipei’s stance has been more rigid on Chinese drone flight, despite tensions rising in Taiwan Strait.
Three groups of three will form shortly after 4:00 p.m. local time. “civilian”Drones flew above the Taiwanese islands Dadan, Erdan, and Shiyu which form the Kinmen archipelago. The drones flown over Erdan in restricted airspace. Soldiers responded by setting off a fire alarm. “defensive shots”Army Command released a statement saying that the Army Command would take away the plane.
According to the statement, after being shot at, the drones began heading towards Xiamen (China),
Local media note that Taiwan’s military has never reported using live ammunition against a Chinese drone before, but Tuesday’s incident came two days after the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense announced that it would follow a new, four-step procedure when dealing with China’s unmanned aerial vehicles.
The procedure requires “firing signal flares, reporting the intrusion, driving the drone out, and shooting it down,”According to the ministry.
Taiwanese flares were fired at an unmanned Chinese aircraft over the Kinmens, claiming that it had been sent there to investigate military defenses. Located close to the Chinese mainland, the Kinmens are heavily fortified, and played a major role during previous conflicts between China’s communist government and nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1950’s.
In recent weeks, footage of drone flights above the Kinmens was shared by Chinese social media. One video shows troops from Taiwan throwing stones at the hovering craft.
The tensions between Taiwan and China have not subsided since Nancy Pelosi, the US House Speaker, visited Taiwan earlier in this month. Beijing considered the trip a tacit endorsement by Washington of Taiwanese independence. It prompted China’s large-scale military drills in Taiwan Strait. The US responded with warships sailing across the waterway while Taiwan conducted military drills.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan. This is a claim that the US has not supported since the 1970s.
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