Taiwan split from China during the 1949 civil war, but Beijing continues to regard the island of 23 million and its outlying islands as Chinese territory and has been ramping up its threat to achieving that by military force if necessary.
In addition to piling diplomatic, political and military pressure on Taiwan, China is seen as seeking to bring Kinmen into its orbit, along with the Taiwan-controlled island group of Matsu, which lies off the Chinese coast to the north.
Taiwanese forces based in the area have fired at drones sent over from the mainland in what is seen as a hybrid civilian-military effort to sow fear and undermine support for Taiwan’s government.
China regularly sends warplanes and navy ships into areas surrounding the island. Between Monday and Tuesday, 24 military aircraft and eight ships were detected operating around the island, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported.
It said Taiwan scrambled jets, dispatched ships and put land-based missile defences on alert, all standard responses to what has become a near-daily show of force between the sides.
