Taiwanese Military Shoots Chinese Drones Flying Over Islands in Taiwan Strait Amid Growing Tensions with Beijing

The Taiwanese military fired warning shots at Chinese drones flying over its outposts off China's coast, reflecting heightened tensions and Taiwan's resolve to respond to new provocations.

The drones were discovered hovering over the Kinmen Island group on Tuesday, according to a statement from Taiwan's military, as per a report from AP News.

The unmanned aerial vehicles were described as having a "civilian purpose" in the statement from Wednesday, but no further information was provided.

It claimed that after the shots were fired, the drones went back to the adjacent Chinese city of Xiamen. Before this, Taiwan had only used flares as warnings.

China-Taiwan Tensions Continue To Escalate

After China launched missiles into the water and moved planes and ships beyond the line separating them in the Taiwan Strait earlier this month, tensions have been at an all-time high.

It came after Beijing expressed anger over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the highest-ranking American dignitary to do so in the previous 25 years.

Recent Chinese efforts have been interpreted as a practice run for a potential blockade or invasion because China claims Taiwan as its own territory.

The United States, Taiwan's main ally, and other regional democracies, including Australia and Japan, strongly condemned China's drills.

Early in August, a few of China's missiles landed in the exclusive economic zone of Japan, which is nearby.

A remnant of Nationalists Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to hold onto the mainland after being forced out during a civil war in 1949 by Mao Zedong's Communists, Taiwan retains sovereignty over several islands in the Kinmen and Matsu groups in the Taiwan Strait.

The annual budget for the Defense Ministry will increase by 12.9% in 2019, according to officials, as part of which anti-drone defenses are being enhanced.

For a total of 415.1 billion NTD ($13.8 billion) in spending for the year, the government intends to spend an additional 47.5 billion NTD ($1.6 billion).

According to Taiwan News, At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the Army's Kinmen Defense Command (KDC) reported that beginning at 4:23 that afternoon, three batches of three "civilian" drones were seen flying above Dadan Island, Erdan Island, and Shi Islet, all of which are located in Kinmen County's Lieyu Township.

The Chinese drones flew away from the islands and toward Xiamen, China, after being warned by the Taiwanese military with signal flares.

Another drone re-entered the airspace over Erdan Island's restricted seas at 5:59 p.m. Again issuing warnings per the protocol were Taiwanese soldiers.

Soldiers fired live shots at the UAV to chase it away, but it persisted in circling over the island.

At around six o'clock, the UAV flew off in the direction of Xiamen, and the KDC vowed to "continue to keep vigilance and closely monitor the situation."

This action is in line with the KDC's threat that it would shoot down invading Chinese drones that disobeyed warnings, which was made on Sunday.

The KDC announced on Monday that it would deal with drones in four steps, including "firing signal flares, reporting the intrusion, driving the drone out, and shooting it down."

The KDC has never before claimed to have fired live ammo against Chinese drones.

Chinese Drones Meant for Harassment

Under the condition of anonymity, U.S. officials claimed that it looked like China was employing drones to harass the Taiwanese rather than escalating the conflict.

However, they stressed that they were keeping a careful eye on the situation and were worried about accidents in general, per Reuters.

On Chinese social media, footage from at least two drone missions showing Taiwanese soldiers at their stations and, in one instance, hurling rocks at a drone has gone viral.

Tags

Taiwan, China, Military, Drone