Taiwan’s premier says downing of drone near mainland China was ‘appropriate’ action by island’s forces
- Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang says island had repeatedly issued warnings and ‘asked them not to encroach on our doorstep’
- Su says videos of Taiwanese soldiers throwing stones at UAVs were made for mainland China’s ‘propaganda at home’
Taiwan’s military for the first time shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace near an islet next door to the mainland Chinese city of Xiamen on Thursday, after the island’s government vowed to take tough measures to deal with an increase in such intrusions.
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Su said Taiwan had repeatedly issued warnings and “asked them not to encroach on our doorstep”.
“They repeatedly ignored our warnings to leave and we had no choice but to exercise self-defence and shoot. This is the most appropriate reaction after repeated restraint and warnings,” he added.
Beijing should exercise restraint, Su said.
“We will never provoke, and we will do the most appropriate thing to protect our land and our people.”
Taiwanese media cited Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office as saying in response to the downing that Taiwan’s attempt to “hype up confrontation between the two sides is extremely ridiculous”.
The drone was shot down after entering restricted airspace near the tiny Shiyu, or Lion islet, and crashed into the sea, according to Taiwan’s military.
Beijing views self-governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the strong objections of the government in Taipei.
Su said these videos were made for mainland China’s “propaganda at home”, adding to the anger of Taiwan’s people.
Beijing’s foreign ministry on Monday dismissed Taiwan’s complaints about drones as nothing “to make a fuss about”.
