Taiwan Shoots Down Suspected Civilian Chinese Drone After Weeks Of Complaints

Taiwan’s defense ministry said it shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace in Kinmen above the restricted waters of Shiyu Island.

What Happened: The army’s Kinmen Defense Command said the army shot down the drone after the usual protocol to repel the drone failed to achieve the goal.

This is the first time the Taiwanese army fired a shot at a suspected Chinese drone after weeks of complaints. The ministry, in a statement, said the “garrisoned troops should be dealt with in accordance with the procedures, and after the warning is invalid, they will shoot defensively and shoot them down,” adding that “it will continue to search and monitor and monitor closely to maintain the security of the defense area.”

See Also: China Raps Up Subway, Domino's Pizza, Agoda And 44 Others For Violating Users' Rights

This came after Taiwan fired warning shots and flares at civilian drones that approached its offshore islands on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Drones are part of China’s gray-zone tactics and cognitive warfare against Taiwan,” Kuo Yu-jen, director of the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei, told Bloomberg.

Crystal Tu, an assistant research fellow at Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said, “China meant to test 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 respond to them.”

“They may also try to see whether there are loopholes in the procedure or response that they can further take advantage of,” Tu told the publication.

Check out more of Benzinga's Europe and Asia coverage by following this link.