Pictures and videos taken by these drones of the archipelago, located a few kilometers from the Chinese city of Xiamen, were circulated on Chinese and Taiwanese social media.
One of the videos shows Taiwanese soldiers throwing stones at one of them in an attempt to keep her away.
Asked about the videos, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was “not an issue that deserves all this controversy because the rallies are flying over Chinese territory.”
The response infuriated Taipei, which likened the drone harassment to the behavior of “thieves”.
“Those who come without an invitation are called thieves, whether they break the door or spy from the air, the people of Taiwan do not welcome such thieves,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s expansionist, authoritarian government has always made it a daily routine to harass other countries and thus it deserves the title of regional troublemaker,” she added.
Taiwan lives under the constant threat of being invaded by China, which considers the island part of its territory and must be taken back one day, by force if necessary.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait reached their highest level in years after the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month to the island.
In response, China carried out a week of unprecedented land and sea military maneuvers since the mid-1990s, including flying parades over the Kinmen Islands.
So far, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense has only fired flares at these marches, but warned that it would take “necessary countermeasures”, including dropping them if necessary.
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