As Taiwan’s military had warned on Sunday (Aug. 28), troops fired live ammunition on a Chinese drone that failed to heed warnings as it flew over an outer island on Tuesday (Aug. 30).
The Army’s Kinmen Defense Command (KDC) at 9 p.m. on Tuesday stated that starting at 4:23 p.m. that afternoon, three batches of three “civilian” drones each were detected flying over Dadan Island, Erdan Island, and Shi Islet, respectively in Kinmen County’s Lieyu Township. After being warned by Taiwanese soldiers with signal flares, the UAVs flew away from the islands and in the direction of China’s Xiamen.
At 5:59 p.m., another drone entered the airspace over the restricted waters of Erdan Island again. Taiwanese troops again issued warnings in accordance with procedures.
However, because the UAV continued to circle over the island, soldiers fired live rounds at the drone to drive it away. The UAV then flew away in the direction of Xiamen at 6 p.m. and the KDC will “continue to maintain vigilance and closely monitor the situation,” the statement read.
This action is consistent with a warning issued by the KDC on Sunday that it would shoot down intruding Chinese drones that fail to heed warnings but such actions will only emboldened China to send more drones which may be armed next time as a response to Taiwan troops firing first.
China has a policy where the they leave you to act first and then come with overwhelming force as retaliation and we expect in coming days, weeks and months China to intensify their fly over those islands.
On Monday (Aug. 29), the KDC stated that it would carry out a four-step process in dealing with the drones that would include “firing signal flares, reporting the intrusion, driving the drone out, and shooting it down.”
Shooting down a Chinese drone whether its civilian or military will increase tensions as China will be forced to retaliate which could quickly led to full blown war.
This is first time that the KDC has reported firing live ammunition on Chinese drones. Firing at Chinese drone with live ammunition can be considered a military action and will invest retaliation from China.
The situation in Taiwan strait has been tense since US speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit Taiwan few weeks ago where Chinese military staged the biggest military drills ever surrounding the island as a show of increased capabilities and ability to choke the island from help and international trade.
