Taiwan’s military has confirmed that a close-up photo and video showing soldiers at a Quemoy sentry post are authentic after they were widely circulated on mainland Chinese social media.
But it sought to reassure the public that the military was in control of the situation and could promptly deal with any emergency, amid growing concerns over a potential attack from Beijing.
The picture and video were taken by a civilian drone from mainland China on Aug 16 at Erdan, an islet in the Quemoy archipelago, its defence command said on Wednesday (Aug 24).
The photo shows two soldiers in camouflage gear looking skywards, one of them bespectacled and carrying a rifle, the other holding a camera with a zoom lens.
They are standing by the door to the sentry post, with part of its interior also visible.
A five-second video shows two other soldiers throwing rocks at the drone and a third aiming a gun at it.
Taiwan-controlled Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, is close to mainland China.
At a time of soaring tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the photo and video have prompted a flood of nationalism on mainland social media, with some suggesting it shows the People’s Liberation Army could get any details it needed about Taiwan’s military, or that it could attack the island any time it wanted to.
The defence command in Quemoy confirmed that the civilian drone had flown over Erdan – just 4km from the mainland city of Xiamen.
“We immediately blew the siren and radioed to warn it off, and the drone swiftly turned back to waters on the Chinese side
The PLA sent dozens of drones over Quemoy earlier this month after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s brief, unannounced visit to Taiwan.
Beijing sees the island of 23 million as part of China and has never ruled out the use of force to take control of it, and called Pelosi’s trip a provocation and a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The PLA also held days of live-fire drills around Taiwan that began soon after Pelosi left on Aug 3 and included sending ballistic missiles across the island.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but Western governments oppose any attempts to take the island by force.
This article was first published in Asia One . All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
