• Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang: “Self-defence was the most appropriate reaction after repeated restraint and warnings”
• China claims Taiwan is attempting to “spice up tension” with drone downing.
• Kinmen defence command claims two drones were identified and flew back to Xiamen after troops fired flares.

Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang stated on Friday that shooting down a drone off the Chinese coast that buzzed a Taiwanese-controlled island was the most “proper” thing to do, and China should maintain caution.

Taiwan’s military shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace on an islet near China’s Xiamen city on Thursday, for the first time, after the government threatened tough measures in response to an increase in intrusions.

China claimed that Taiwan was attempting to “inflame tensions” over the incident, which comes after the island complained about harassment from Chinese drones flying near to the Kinmen islands while Beijing staged military drills around Taiwan.

Su told reporters that Taiwan had sent numerous warnings and had begged China not to “encroach on our doorstep.”

According to Taiwan’s military, the drone was shot down after entering restricted airspace near the tiny Lion islet and crashed into the sea.

“They repeatedly ignored our warnings to leave and we had no choice but to exercise self-defence and shoot,” Su said. “This is the most appropriate reaction after repeated restraint and warnings.”

China should exercise restraint, Su said.

“We will never provoke, and we will do the most appropriate thing to protect our land and our people.”

According to Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Taiwan’s “effort to inflame tensions means nothing.”

According to Taiwan media, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office described the drone downing as “very ludicrous,” and Taiwan was attempting to “spice up tension.”

The Kinmen defence command claimed on Friday that two more drones were identified and “immediately” flew back to Xiamen after troops fired flares to warn them away.

On Friday, the defence ministry also posted images of troops on Kinmen pointing the Taiwan-developed Skynet “interference rifle,” which can cut off drone control signals and force them to land. According to the report, troops are also shooting at drones with high-calibre rifles.

Chinese soldiers have been exercising near Taiwan since early August, in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, which incensed Beijing.

Despite Taipei’s repeated objections, China considers democratically-governed Taiwan to be its own territory.

At least two films of recent drone excursions have gone viral on Chinese social media, one of which shows Taiwanese soldiers throwing stones at the craft.

Su claimed that the videos were created for “home propaganda” in China, fueling Taiwanese rage.

Taiwan fired the first warning shots at a drone on Tuesday, just after President Tsai Ing-wen announced she had instructed the military to take “strong countermeasures” against what she called Chinese provocations.

Tsai has advocated for “asymmetric warfare” to make its forces more mobile and difficult to assault. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, stated via video link to a forum in Prague on Friday that this remained a priority.

“To safeguard our security and sovereignty, Taiwan will continue to develop its asymmetric capacity to make the invasion across the Strait very difficult and costly,” he said.

Since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taipei after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists in 1949, Taiwan has controlled Kinmen, which is only a few hundred metres (feet) from Chinese territory.

China routinely shelled Kinmen and other Taiwanese-held islands off China’s coast during the Cold War, and while they still have a significant military presence, they are now also popular tourist attractions.

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