Thursday 4 August 2022 06:40 AM Taiwan fires flares at 'Chinese drones' flying over heavily-fortified Kinmen ... trends now
Suspected Chinese drones flew over Taiwan and hackers attacked its defense ministry website, authorities in Taipei said on Thursday, a day after a diplomatic visit from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi outraged the Communist nation.
China was to begin a series of military exercises around Taiwan on Thursday in response to Pelosi's visit, some of which were to take place within the island's 12-nautical-mile sea and air territory, according to the defense ministry in Taipei.
That has never happened before and a senior ministry official described the potential move as 'amounting to a sea and air blockade of Taiwan'.
Nancy Pelosi, center, with New York Congressman Gregory Meeks, far right, just before they boarded her US Air Force jet in Taipei and left Taiwan following a historic visit that enraged China and escalated tensions between Beijing and Washington
Taiwanese army units fired flares at suspected Chinese drones that flew over the island nation's airspace after Pelosi' visit
Taiwanese defense officials reported unidentified aircraft, probably drones flying over the Kinmen Islands
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, said on Thursday its differences with the self-ruled island were an internal affair.
'Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces is reasonable, lawful,' China's Taiwan Affairs Office said.
China's Xinhua news agency has said the exercises, involving live fire drills, will take place in six areas which ring Taiwan and will begin at midnight.
Taiwan is a set of islands located around 80 miles off the coast of mainland China, where the East China Sea meets the South China Sea
Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the US House of Representatives, celebrated her Wednesday meeting with Taiwan's female president Tsai Ing-wen, saying it shows the US 'will not abandon its commitment' to the island
A handout photo made available by the Taiwan Presidential office shows Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (R) and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bumping elbows during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Taipei on Wednesday
On Wednesday night, just hours after Pelosi left for South Korea, unidentified aircraft, probably drones, had flown above the area of the Kinmen islands, Taiwan's defense ministry said.
Major General Chang Zone-sung of the army's Kinmen Defense Command told Reuters that the drones came in a pair and flew into the Kinmen area twice on Wednesday night, at around 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
'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
