The Taiwan Army Kinmen Defense Command stated on the morning of Thursday (August 4) that the Kinmen and Beiding areas detected two unidentified aircraft passing over the sky on Wednesday (August 3) evening. They fired flares to drive them away.
The Kinmen Defense Command stated that this is the first time that Chinese drones have been found infesting Kinmen, which has attracted great attention from all walks of life. Zhang Rongshun, director of political warfare of the Kinmen Defense Command, said that at about 9:00 and 10:00 on the evening of the 3rd, the main island of Kinmen and Beiding Island were detected by radar, and two unidentified aircraft were found flying over the sky, flying at an altitude of about 2,000 meters.
Signal bomb firing
After comparison and analysis, they were identified as Chinese drones, and the troops followed standard operating procedures, fired signal bombs to warn them to leave, maintained combat readiness and implemented covert actions. After the garrisoned troops fired flares to drive away, the drone flew away in the direction of inland China.
Major General Chang Zone-sung of the Army’s Kinmen Defense Command said:
“We immediately fired flares to issue warnings and to drive them away. After that, they turned around. They came into our restricted area and that’s why we dispersed them,” he said.
The heavily fortified Kinmen islands are just off the southeastern coast of China, near the city of Xiamen.
“We have a standard operating procedure. We will react if they come in,” Chang said, adding that the alert level there remained “normal.”
Chang said he believed the drones were intended to gather intelligence on Taiwan’s security deployment in its outlying islands.
Last week, Taiwan’s military fired flares to warn away a drone that “glanced” its Matsu archipelago off the coast of China’s Fujian Province and was possibly probing its defenses, Taiwan’s defense ministry said.
Sources: UDN; Nikkei Asia;