Amid rising tensions Taiwan fires at Chinese drone

In a rare move amid the escalating hostilities between Taiwan and China, on Tuesday, Taipei fired warning shots at a Chinese drone that had buzzed into its territory.

This comes as the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, recently declared that she had instructed the military to take "strong countermeasures" against what she called Chinese provocations.

Tsai criticised China earlier on Tuesday when touring the military forces on the Penghu islands for its use of drones and other forms of "grey zone" warfare.

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Watch:Chinese ships near Kinmen Island raise concerns

She told naval officers, "I want to tell everyone that the more the enemy provokes, the more calm we must be."

"We will not provoke disputes, and we will exercise self-restraint, but it does not mean that we will not counter," she added.

After the shots were fired, the drone returned to China, according to a military spokesman.The incident happened near the Kinmen islands.

Reuters reports that as part of military manoeuvres by Beijing, Chinese drones frequently fly dangerously close to small island groupings Taiwan controls near the Chinese coast.

The drone had neared Erdan islet, according to Chang Jung-shun, a spokesman for the Kinmen Defense Command, and live bullets were shot at it shortly before 6 o'clock (1000 GMT).

Despite being well-equipped, Taiwan's military is outclassed by China. Tsai has been in charge of a modernization programme and has prioritised raising defence spending.

When asked earlier on Tuesday about Chinese drone activity, Taiwan's defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, said he was unable to comment specifically on how his country would respond to the intrusions, but that the military would act in accordance with the principle of "self defence."

In a veiled warning to China, he said, "Don't make a fuss then when I set off some firecrackers to scare away some sparrows."

(With inputs from agencies)

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