Chinese drone encircles Taiwan again, second time in recent weeks: Report

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Wednesday (May 3) that the self-ruled island detected a Chinese reconnaissance drone sent to conduct a so-called 'island encirclement patrol,' reported South China Morning Post (SCMP). This is the second time Taiwan has announced that a Chinese drone encircled the island in the last two weeks. According to a report by SCMP, the Taiwanese Defence Ministry said that the drone was accompanied by a transport aircraft which had an advanced jamming system.

In addition to this, the defence ministrysaid that it detected 27 aircraft of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) between 6 am on Tuesday and 6 am on Wednesday. Thirteen planes then entered Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).

On April 28, Taiwan said that said 19 Chinese military aircraft entered the island's air defence identification zone in addition to the encirclement by the drone.

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China considers Taiwan to be its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to capture the democratically-ruled island. China has increased military pressure on Taiwan in recent years.

Just last month, China conducted war games around the island. These war games coincided with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

The tension between Taiwan and China has alarmed US, the biggest backer of Taiwan. The US and its allies have been repeatedly expressing concerns aboutChina's moves. They have called for no forced change in the status quo.

Late last month, US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait. In addition to this, a French lawmaker confirmed to Reuters that a warship had recently transited the sensitive waterway.

The US and its allies have sent warships and aircraft through the Taiwan Strait in recent years.

Last year, China claimed that it had sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Taiwan Strait. It insisted that it was "a false claim" to refer to the strait as international waters.

The United States and Taiwan both say China's position is not correct.

A retired US general on Wednesday urged Taiwan to learn from Russia's war in Ukraine and boost its unmanned drone defences. Retired US Marines Lieutenant General Steven Rudder was part of a delegation of American defence contractors in Taipei on Wednesday to discuss the development of military hardware -- including unmanned aerial systems (UASs) -- with Taiwanese companies.

On the sidelines of the forum, he told reporters, "We've seen smaller UASs take a very prominent role and we've seen ground forces in distributed manners are able to create a factor of defensive firepower within an urban environment in ways that we haven't explored before."

This technology, he said, "allows you to create coverage in areas where you don't have conventional forces".

(With inputs from agencies)

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