PRC Civilian Drone Shot Down by Taiwan Soldiers Stationed on Kinmen
Summary Report Compiled by Taiwan Weekly, September 2, 2022
Mainland Chinese civilian drones have repeatedly flown into the airspace of Kinmen in recent weeks. On September 1, Taiwan troops stationed on Lion Islet off Lieyu (Little Kinmen) finally fired the first live rounds to shoot down the drone. Many residents on Kinmen applauded the action, yet some worry that it may escalate military confrontation.
After mainland Chinese military exercises around Taiwan started in early August, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been deploying surveillance drones into the airspace of outlaying islands of Taiwan. Taiwan’s initial low-key countermeasure to these drone incursions has caused widespread public discontent at the government. President Tsai Ing-wen eventually said, in a speech when attending the Ministry of National Defense (MND) function on September 1, that she had ordered the MND to take necessary countermeasures to defend our national security. After her speech, an “unknown Chinese civilian drone” was shot down over the restricted zone of Lion Islet by Kinmen troops on September 1 at noon.
The Army’s Kinmen Defense Command stated that it had fired live rounds to repel Chinese drones on four separate occasions between August 30 to 31. At the noon of September 1 an unknown civilian drone was spotted entering the restricted area of Lion Islet, the troops followed the standard counter maneuver and gave warnings at first. The drone showed no sign of backing down so the troops took defensive action by opening fire. The drone was shot down and fell into the sea.
Lion Islet is situated between Little Kinmen and Amoy. It is off the northwest coast of Little Kinmen by 1 kilometer. The land area is merely 0.007 square kilometers. The Kinmen Defense Command said the troops had no time to take photo or video recording of the whole process.
Since this is the first time that the MND confirmed the shooting down of Chinese drone, tons of cheering memes quickly emerged on the Internet, some even suggested to reward the soldier shooting down the drone the same way as shooting down a MiG jet fighter. Many ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators posted on their Facebook pages saying “shoot it down whenever we should, there is no gray area.” Premier Su Tseng-chang said in an interview last night that “On the matter of national defense, we will not give up an inch of land and there is no gap”.
Legislator Chen Yu-jen from Kinmen said that there are many restricted areas on Kinmen according to Vital Area Regulations. The invading military or civilian drones should be shot down if proper warnings were unable to repel them. The actions taken by Kinmen Defense Command should be recognized.
KMT Legislator Wu Sz-huai, a former two-star general, cautioned that it may be correct for frontline soldier to shoot down unknown drones following to rules, yet it is not so from the perspective of national security strategy. Are we going to ask the soldiers to shoot down every drone that comes? If the mainland had ill intention in sending military drones, could our shooting down be interpreted as the first strike? Our national security authorities cannot adopt the mentality of shooting down every drone that comes. What if this act of impulse causes war? The national security authorities should give frontline soldiers clear instructions of engagement, yet strategically we need to be very cautious.
KMT Legislator Hung Mong-kai stated bluntly that mainland Chinese drones have been disturbing us for more than half a year, and we still don’t have any scientific countermeasure other than shooting guns. Currently there is no channel of communication between the two sides of Taiwan Strait, any mistake could lead to unwanted military conflict. We already have electronic shielding system that can stop drones. The first priority of the Tsai administration is to find ways to prevent the next squad of drones from coming. Inaction will put out frontline soldiers in danger.
DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng said that the government needs to have more active countermeasures. We need to revamp our entire counter strategy when the drone incursions are changing patterns, forms and become more intensified. Faced with this provocation and drone invasion from China, we cannot be ambiguous in our response. Only by “shooting down when necessary,” China’s behavior of aggression can be effectively deterred.
Spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian of the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council issued a press Q&A on the evening of September 1, stating that the mainland saw the related news reports and found it ridiculous for the DPP authorities to play up these incidents in an attempt to create a tense atmosphere and raise the level of cross-strait confrontation.
From:
https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20220902000375-260118?chdtv