by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 31, 2022
Taiwan’s military on Tuesday fired warning shots at a Chinese drone that flew near a small Taiwanese island.
The incident marks the first time that Taiwan has taken such action amid a period of heightened tension with the communist regime in Beijing, according to Reuters.
The drone returned to China following the warning shots, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s military said.
The incident came shortly after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said that she ordered “strong countermeasures” against what she said were China’s ongoing military provocations.
Related: Team Biden fails to demonstrate resolve in response to PLA moves against Taiwan, August 10, 2022
Throughout the month of August, China has conducted military exercises which included firing missiles over Taiwan and temporarily blockading the island from trade.
Taiwanese officials have noted that China is dispatching drones which fly very close to small groups of islands Taiwan controls.
A spokesperson for the Taiwanese military command where the incident occurred said that flares were previously used to ward off drones before the live fire on Tuesday.
Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Tsai criticized China’s communist authorities and condemned the drone incursion as “gray zone” conflict.
“I want to tell everyone that the more the enemy provokes, the more calm we must be,” Tsai told naval officers. “We will not provoke disputes, and we will exercise self-restraint, but it does not mean that we will not counter.”
One Taiwanese naval officer said that Taiwanese and Chinese forces regularly traded tense radio warnings in which the Chinese attempt to provoke Taiwan into opening fire.
Taiwan Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said he could not give details on how the military would counter China’s incursions, but did say that Taiwan’s military would react on the principle of “self-defense.”
CCP authorities previously said that China’s drone incursions near Taiwanese islands were nothing “to make a fuss about.”
Chiu told reporters on Tuesday: “Don’t make a fuss then when I set off some firecrackers to scare away some sparrows.”
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