Shooting down a drone that flew over a Kinmen County island near the Chinese coast was the most “appropriate” course of action for the military after repeated warnings, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday, as a military source said that drone jamming guns had been dispatched to Taiwan’s outlying islands.
For the first time, the military on Thursday shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered Taiwanese airspace near China’s Xiamen, after the government vowed tough measures against a rise in intrusions.
It was followed yesterday by incursions by several drones near Lieyu Township (烈嶼), which “quickly flew back to Xiamen after troops fired flares to warn them,” the Kinmen Defense Command said.
Photo: CNA
To counter drone incursions, a military source told the Central News Agency that drone jamming guns have been sent to Kinmen, Lienchiang County and other outlying islands.
The Ministry of National Defense declined to comment on the guns, saying only that the military would take all necessary steps to counter any threats by China.
China responded by saying that Taiwan was trying to “hype up tensions” over the incident.
Su told reporters that Taiwan had repeatedly issued warnings and asked China “not to encroach on our doorstep.”
“They repeatedly ignored our warnings to leave, and we had no choice but to exercise self-defense and shoot,” he said. “This is the most appropriate reaction after repeated restraint and warnings.”
“We will never provoke, and we will do the most appropriate thing to protect our land and our people,” he added.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “attempt to hype up tensions does not mean anything.”
The drone was shot down after entering restricted airspace near Shi Islet (獅嶼) and crashed into the sea, the defense ministry said.
At least two videos of recent drone flybys have circulated widely on Chinese social media, with one apparently showing Taiwanese soldiers throwing stones at the craft.
Su said these videos were made for China’s “propaganda at home,” adding to the anger of Taiwanese.
Politicians yesterday also defended the takedown of the drone.
The action was necessary to ensure the territorial integrity and dignity of the nation, DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said before calling the shooting a boost to military morale and public confidence.
“We have no room for ambiguity when responding to incursions into our airspace by Chinese drones,” he said.
China’s deployment of drones over Kinmen is a “textbook example of the tactics of gray-zone conflict,” DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said, adding that the measured response of Taiwanese forces has helped garner support from the country’s allies.
The military has issued drone jamming guns to frontline units and guidelines for the use of force against drones are being written, he said.
This guidelines would authorize responses including the use of jammers, rifle fire and anti-aircraft missiles, depending on the severity of the threat, Wang said.
Taiwan has an imperative to defend its sovereign airspace, and the military acted in accordance with regulations, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said.
The Chinese military’s acts of harassment are pointless and would only increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait, he said, urging China to “exercise restraint.”
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
RSS