Taiwan Shoots Down Communist China’s Drone for the First Time Off Kinmen

According to Reuters, on Thursday (September 1st), the Taiwan military shot down an unidentified drone for the first time, which entered the airspace near a small island belonging to Taiwan, which is located near the coast of Communist China. The Taiwan government previously vowed to take strict measures against such invasions.

 In response to the visit of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Chinese Communist Party has been conducting military exercises in the waters near Taiwan since the beginning of last month. The Taiwan government has said that it will not provoke or exacerbate tensions, but recently, CCP drones have frequently harassed Taiwan-controlled islands.

 The Defense Command for Kinmen is a group of Taiwan-controlled islands opposing Xiamen and Quanzhou City of Communist China. In a statement issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, an unidentified drone entered the restricted airspace of Lion Islet, which belongs to Taiwan, just after noon that day.

 Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense added that the troops stationed on Lion Islet tried to warn it to leave, but to no avail, so they shot it down with its wreckage falling into the sea.

 After President Tsai Ing-wen ordered the Taiwan military to take “strong countermeasures” against the provocations of the CCP, the Taiwan Garrison fired warning shots at unidentified drones for the first time on Tuesday (August 30th).

 Chiu Chui-cheng, deputy head of Taiwan’s China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, told reporters in Taipei that the CCP’s aircraft are not allowed to enter Kinmen airspace. Chiu said that Taiwan has the legal power to take “necessary defensive measures” against aircraft that violate Kinmen airspace, including forcing them to take off or land.