August 31, 2022 at 5:38 am
image source,Weibo
Images of Taiwanese soldiers captured by drones were circulated on the Chinese Internet, and Taiwanese said it was cognitive warfare.
Taiwanese defenders fired on a Chinese drone close to the island of Kinmen on Tuesday (August 30), a Taiwanese military spokesman said, marking the first time a Taiwanese military drone has driven live ammunition away from mainland China.
The Kinmen Defense Command said that four civilian drones were found on Tuesday followingnoon, and that defenders carried out “fire flare warnings” and “defensive fire to drive away” one of the drones, which was still “continuously circling”.
According to reports, the drones later flew away in the direction of Xiamen.
The command said the drones entered the Dadan (Dadan), Erdan (Erdan) and Shiyu areas, which are small islands only a few kilometers from mainland China.
Taiwan’s military said the drone footage was part of China’s “cognitive warfare” attempt to “discredit” its armed forces, but said the drones were “civilian”.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, responded, “It’s not surprising that China’s drones fly over Chinese territory.”
Tensions have grown in Taiwan following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island earlier this month despite warnings from Beijing. China has held large-scale military exercises in the waters surrounding Taiwan.
Drones frequently fly over Kinmen
Recently, drones have been frequently found in the Kinmen area controlled by Taiwan and close to Fujian, China. Some images suspected to be shot by these drones at close range have also been circulated on social media, causing heated discussions.
In a widely circulated video, two Taiwanese soldiers threw rocks at the drone following discovering the drone. The Kinmen Defense Command later confirmed the incident, saying that the incident occurred in the Erdan Island defense area on August 16.
On August 27, a new video of a drone flying into Kinmen appeared on Chinese social media Weibo. In the 44-second footage, the drone flew from far to near to what is said to be a post at the southern end of Guishan Beach in Lieyu Township, Kinmen County.
In the film, you can clearly see the soldiers on duty at the outpost and the barracks facilities, including the war situation wall chart. After a soldier found the drone, he immediately reported it through the wireless walkie-talkie.
image source,Weibo
The Taiwan military said that the officers and soldiers stationed there used a signal flare to warn the drone away, and then there were comments that the Taiwan military fired the “first shot.”
Taiwan’s military later said the officers and soldiers stationed there used signal flares to warn them to leave.
Although the Taiwan military said that it had expelled the Chinese drones in accordance with the disposal procedures, it still caused an uproar on both sides of the strait.
On mainland Chinese social media, many netizens ridiculed the “incompetence” of the Taiwanese army, which might only use “primitive” stones once morest drones. In Taiwan, many netizens called the drones flying in frequently a humiliation to the military and questioned the “weak” response of the authorities.
Wang Dingyu, a member of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Affairs Committee, called the incident very serious and questioned why the Defense Ministry did not respond to the drone intrusion. He said it would be dereliction of duty to let it come and go.
When Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited Penghu on Tuesday to inspect troops, he criticized Beijing for continuing to intimidate Taiwan with “grey area” conflict tactics such as drone harassment.
“The more provocative the enemy is, the more calm we have to be,” she said. “We won’t let the other side have improper excuses to create conflict, we won’t provoke a war, we restrain ourselves, but that doesn’t mean we won’t fight back.”
On Wednesday (August 31), Hu Xijin, a commentator of the Chinese state-run Global Times, said that the Taiwanese army’s shooting at the drone was “the first time the Taiwanese army has fired live ammunition on the mainland’s flying objects in many years.” It didn’t hit the drone, but the nature of live fire is bad.”
He likened the shooting to the “first shot” of the Taiwanese army, and warned that if the Taiwanese army shot down a drone in mainland China, “the mainland will have reason to fire live ammunition at a target on the Taiwan side, and destroy it. shoot down”.
