Taiwan yesterday downed a civilian drone after weeks of complaints about incursions by uncrewed aerial vehicles from China, a sign Taipei is pushing back against Beijing’s efforts to encroach on its territory.
Taiwanese troops shot the drone down near Kinmen’s Shi Islet (獅嶼) at about noon after attempts to repel it failed, a statement from the garrison on the Taipei-held outpost just off China said.
That followed incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday in which Taiwanese soldiers fired warning shots and flares at civilian drones that approached the nation’s outlying islands.
Photo courtesy of retired Kinmen teacher Hung Ching-chang
The military is trying to reaffirm limits on Chinese presence near its territory after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei early last month.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a speech on Tuesday urged the military to craft a strong response to China’s pressure campaign without prompting further escalation.
“Drones are part of China’s gray-zone tactics and cognitive warfare against Taiwan,” said Kuo Yu-jen (郭育仁), director of the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei. “The incursions are an attempt to humiliate Taiwan’s military. Taiwan’s government first responded to it cautiously, and only turned tougher when they became more frequent.”
Photo courtesy of the Kinmen Defense Command
Chinese troops held unprecedented exercises for several days around Taiwan after Pelosi’s visit, including firing ballistic missiles over Taiwan proper.
Taipei has reported that an average of more than 10 Chinese warplanes have crossed the US-drafted median line that divides the Taiwan Strait each day since Pelosi’s visit, data compiled by Bloomberg News showed.
The drones’ flights over the outlying islands started in late July, although neither side has specified where they are coming from.
The Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper has said that “the frequent flights of civilian drones from the mainland [China] expose the Taiwan armed forces’ weak defenses.”
“China meant to test the response of Taiwan’s military in offshore islands like Kinmen by sending those drones, and also used these small-scale events to see how Taiwanese society responds to them,” said Crystal Tu (杜貞儀), assistant research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research. “They may also try to see whether there are loopholes in the procedure or response that they can further take advantage of.”
The Ministry of National Defense told lawmakers that China’s encroachments pose “severe military challenges,” a report seen by Bloomberg said.
Major General Lin Wen-huang (林文皇), who is in charge of combat planning at the ministry, told reporters that Taiwan would repel Chinese forces if they were to enter its territory.
“The closer the incursions are to Taiwan, the stronger our countermeasures will be,” Lin said.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS