Taiwan’s military on Thursday shot down a drone that had entered Taiwan’s airspace for the first time. That reports Reuters news agency. The drone, which Taiwan believes came from the Chinese military, flew near an island just miles off the Chinese coast. On Tuesday, the country fired warning shots at a drone shortly after the Taiwanese government promised to take “strong countermeasures” against the “Chinese provocations.”
According to the defense command of the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, the drone flew into the airspace just after noon. Troops on the island first tried to dislodge the object, without success, after which it was shot down. This is evident from a declaration released by the Taiwan Ministry of Defense. Earlier in the day, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen instructed the Ministry of National Defense to take “necessary and strong” countermeasures in a timely manner to “defend national security.”
Since early last month, China has been holding military exercises around Taiwan in response to the visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A few days ago, the US Navy sailed with two warships through the Taiwan Strait. A spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army said earlier that the Chinese armed forces are on high alert and that it would be ready at any time to thwart any provocation. China views the de facto independent Taiwan as a renegade province and saw Pelosi’s visit as an American attempt to meddle in “domestic” affairs.
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