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.”
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS