A man offers binoculars to tourists to observe the Kinmen islands, in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province on August 3, 2022. Photo: VCG

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the Taiwan authorities are just trying to hype up a tense atmosphere after media reported that Taiwan armed forces had allegedly shot down a civilian drone from the mainland that visited the Kinmen islands around Thursday noon.

It is reportedly the first time that the Taiwan authorities had shot down a mainland civilian drone amid frequent reports of mainland civilian drones visiting the Kinmen islands.

Although he did not confirm the reports of the incident, Wang said at a routine press conference that the Taiwan authorities are just trying to hype up a tense atmosphere and that it was totally meaningless.

Observers also said that shooting a civilian drone does not mean anything, but reveals the weakness of Taiwan's armed forces. They also suggest that Taiwan authorities face the fact that the frequent visits of mainland civilian drones to the Kinmen islands indicates that it is a common aspiration of all mainland people to pursue reunification.

The Taiwan armed forces said that a drone entered "prohibited areas" of an islet of Kinmen at 12:03 pm. The guards fired warning shots but failed to warn the drone away. The guards then shot the drone down, media reported.

Kinmen county of Taiwan island is only about 10 kilometers to the east of Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province.

The incident soon triggered heated discussion on social media platforms as netizens questioned whether it indicated that Taiwan armed forces had fired the first shot in the Taiwan Straits and whether the shot would lead the two sides to military confrontation.

Some observers explained that shooting down a civilian drone is far from the definition of a first shot in the military or political sense. Any move to hype the so-called first shot is just in order to save Taiwan authorities' face amid criticism over their failed reactions to frequent visits by mainland drones.

In a video released last week, some guards at a Kinmen outpost tried to throw stones at a mainland drone to drive it away.

Observers warned that the incident would probably lead to more mainland drone hobbyists flying their drones to Kinmen rather than warning them away, as the Taiwan authorities expected, as it is already a common aspiration of all mainland people to pursue reunification. Taiwan authorities have to face that fact, experts said.

Reports of mainland civilian drones visiting the Kinmen islands have been frequently seen in the past half month. On Tuesday, Taiwan armed forces authorities for the first time fired warning shots at a drone.

According to media reports, four mainland civilian drones visited Kinmen on Tuesday and three visited on Wednesday. The Taiwan armed forces fired warning shots on both days.

When asked to comment on the reports of the civilian drone activity, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a routine press conference on Monday, "Chinese drones flying over China's territory - what's there to be surprised at?"

The frequent flights of civilian drones from the mainland also expose the Taiwan armed forces' weak defenses, and even if Kinmen is equipped with anti-drone systems, they would only affect civilian drones, not military ones, experts said.

Shooting down a civilian drone has no practical meaning. In a war, a guard is already dead if he just tries to intercept a drone after seeing it, Song Zhongping, a mainland military expert and commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Taiwan's armed forces should reflect on what they would do if military drones come, or if a swarm of drones come, experts said.