Taiwan shoots down a suspected Chinese drone near Kinmen for the first time

MADRID, 1 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Taiwan has shot down for the first time this Thursday a drone supposedly controlled by China that has entered the airspace over the waters of the Shiyu islet, near Kinmen, after the Taiwanese government has promised to tighten measures to curb the increase in incursions. by the Asian giant.

After the unmanned aerial vehicle ignored warnings, Taiwanese troops shot and managed to shoot it down, the Kinmen Army Defense Command (KDC) reported in a statement reported by Taiwan News.

This comes after the Taiwanese Armed Forces opened fire this week, both on Tuesday and Wednesday, against civilian drones supposedly controlled from China, shortly after the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing Wen, called for "forceful" measures against this type of raids.

"I have ordered the Ministry of National Defense to take strong and necessary measures ... to defend the security of the air space," Tsai said, during a speech in which he warned that Taiwan will not sit idly by.

Given recent events, the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Affairs portfolio, Zhao Lijian, has responded that Taiwan is a province of the Asian giant, so it does not have a Ministry of Defense. "The act of the Taiwan authorities to increase tensions means nothing," he explained at a press conference.

Tension in the area has increased since the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan in early August. Beijing responded with its greatest military maneuvers, to make it clear that it continues to have its sovereign claims on the island very much in mind.