Just how close did a PLA drone come to the heart of Taipei during drill?
Footage shared by a mainland military social media account shows Taipei 101 but it’s not clear when it was taken
The black-and-white drone footage, released by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command on Monday, shows an ascending passenger plane flying past Taipei 101, the city’s tallest skyscraper. A still image showing a panoramic view of the tower and surrounding landscape, including the Tamsui River estuary, was also featured.
The video clip was titled “So close, so beautiful, ready to visit Taipei anytime”. It did not specify where the clip was taken.
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The China Military Bugle subsequently posted a video showing a TB-001 reconnaissance and strike drone taxiing from a hangar just before the Taipei 101 clip, suggesting it was the aircraft on this mission.
Given that the imagery appears to have been captured from nearby, it immediately sparked debate over whether, or how far, the drone had penetrated the airspace of Taipei.
Taiwan’s defence ministry dismissed the image as an example of “cognitive warfare”.
Hsieh Jih-sheng, assistant vice-minister for intelligence, said on Tuesday that while the TB-001s had been operating near Taiwan, no PLA drone had entered the 24-nautical-mile (44.4km) contiguous zone.