Taiwan has begun targeting Chinese drones flying over its outlying islands for the first time, highlighting the risk that Beijing’s military pressure on Taipei.
Soldiers on Kinmen, a Taiwanese-controlled island just off the Chinese city of Xiamen, shot at a Chinese drone for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, the Army Kinmen Defence Command said.
The uncrewed vehicle then flew away in the direction of Xiamen, it added, reports Financial Times.
The approach comes as Taipei seeks to balance the risk of sparking outright conflict against its desire to block China from demonstrating effective control over nearby waters and airspace or even Taiwanese territory.
Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank, said, “Such activities are presumably all part of Chinese grey-zone tactics to wear down Taiwan’s military.”
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
