BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2022) The Taiwanese Defense Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the island's armed forces had shot down a civil drone intended for aerial photography in the area of the Kinmen Islands located off the southeastern coast of mainland China.
"On September 1, at 12:30 p.m. local time (04:30 GMT), an unidentified civil drone for aerial photography was detected after it had entered the airspace over the closed water area of the Shi Islet," the ministry said in a statement.
The troops stationed in the area warned the drone about the necessity to leave the airspace, and after the warning was ignored, the military shot down the aircraft, it added.
On Tuesday, the Taiwanese military fired on a Chinese People's Liberation Army drone for the first time after it had approached the Taiwanese-controlled Kinmen Islands, saying that the defense forces would continue to stay on high alert and step up surveillance.
The Kinmen Islands is a group of islands located roughly 6.2 miles east of the city of Xiamen in China's Fujian Province administered by Taiwan. According to the South China Morning Post newspaper, no Chinese military aircraft, including drones, have flown over the islands since the 1950s. The ministry began recording an increased activity of China's aircraft in the islands' airspace after the controversial visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei in early August.
