Among the recent developments in the Taiwan Strait, the activities of drones in the Kinmen Islands are absolutely remarkable.
According to two videos circulating on the Internet and reports from Taiwan authorities, three small drones recently flew to the islands of the Kinmen Islands, the most recent of which occurred on August 29. Judging from the available information, the airframes used in the three flights are all small multi-axis drones of suspected civilian level, and all three flights have returned safely.
Although all three flights returned safely, the Taiwan troops stationed on the island still tried to intercept them. According to the earliest disclosed video, when the drone skimmed over the head of the Taiwan military at low altitude and low speed, the Taiwan soldiers threw stones at the drone, hoping to shoot down or drive away the drone. However, by the time of the second flight video disclosed on August 28, there was no footage of the Taiwan military driving away the drone, and only the barracks facilities on the island could be seen.
At the foreign ministry's regular press conference on August 29, when a reporter asked about the drone flying to Kinmen Island, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian replied: I also saw the relevant video, China's drone flew to China's territory, I don't think this is anything to be surprised about.
With the official designation, this matter does not seem to be a big deal, but the Taiwan authorities do not seem to be ready to go down the stairs.
Perhaps the three flights without any countermeasures have caused the Taiwan authorities to lose face in public opinion on the island, and although the body is still very honest and dare not shoot down, the Mouth of the Taiwan authorities is very hard. In an earlier report, the Taiwan authorities claimed that the soldiers on the zhudao islands were only circulating warnings and driving away in accordance with the procedures on the pretext of finding "civilian unmanned aerial vehicles." After the fermentation of public opinion on the island, Zhang Rongshun, the so-called "director of political warfare of the Kinmen Defense Command," stood up again and said: In the future, if the drones fly to the camp again, they will continue to circle after being driven away, and it will not be ruled out that they will be shot down.
However, the Taiwan authorities' internal restraint has no effect, and such patrols of their own national territory are likely to occur in the future, and the Taiwan authorities are unlikely to really have the determination to shoot down the drones on the mainland.
The reason for this is that after Pelosi's visit, the situation in the Taiwan Strait has changed forever.
In the previous Taiwan Strait, the "strategic ambiguity" of the United States has always been a lingering existence. The United States recognizes the one-China policy and has always declared itself to maintain a one-China stance, but it has always maintained an ambiguous attitude on the deterrence of force against Taiwan. It does not clearly indicate its own attitude when there is a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, but it often sends strategic deterrent forces to cruise around the Taiwan Strait. This ambiguous deterrence has brought great uncertainty to the handling of the Taiwan Strait issue.
The more radical the US politicians are, the more they show support for the Taiwan authorities, the more serious the damage of the US one-China position, and the thinner the existence of strategic ambiguity.
After Pelosi's visit, the U.S. strategic ambiguity in the Taiwan Strait region actually ceased to exist. Ignoring China's repeated warnings and acquiescence to Pelosi's visit, no matter how much the U.S. government emphasizes that its one-China stance has not changed, the relationship between the two sides has changed substantially. The United States' excessive support for the Taiwan authorities has undermined the original situation in the Taiwan Strait and completely destroyed the basis for the existence of the US position.
Therefore, at present, in the face of a United States that completely denies "one China" in action, how to safeguard China's territorial unity and prevent and prevent the United States from infringing on China's inherent territory and national sovereignty is the primary consideration of all actions.
The punishment and warning of "Taiwan independence" elements is naturally part of this; The inspection of one's own territory and the declaration of sovereignty are also part of safeguarding the territorial integrity of sovereignty.
Therefore, the drone inspection, which is a small matter that does not have to be surprised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, actually brings a lot of significance.
In particular, these flights have dealt blows to the "Taiwan independence" elements in the Taiwan authorities, which can be described as immediate results. Because the United States, on which the "Taiwan independence" elements rely, is unwilling to go to war with China, the current Taiwan authorities actually have no strength to confront the mainland; when drones pass over Kinmen Island and videos of Taiwan soldiers throwing stones circulating on the island, some "Taiwan independence" elements suffered a huge psychological blow, and some "Taiwan independence" politicians also faced public opinion condemnation, and the punishment and deterrent effects they produced far exceeded the drones themselves.
Some politicians on the island also know that the current balance of forces between the two sides of the strait is too great, reunification is only a matter of time, and a small number of people who still adhere to the idea of splittism are also deliberately opposing it for their own interests; on the one hand, they are taking risks to shoot down civilian drones, and on the other hand, they are condemned by public opinion, and these politicians can only break their teeth and swallow them in their stomachs, verbally put two harsh words, and then enter the ostrich state again.
Of course, for the People's Republic of China, this is still just a small thing. Cross-strait reunification will not be accelerated by such a trivial matter, and die-hard "Taiwan independence" elements will not raise their hands and surrender because of such a degree of pressure. For us, how to proceed from these small things, avoid the use of force to the greatest extent possible, and let the two sides of the strait be peacefully reunified is the correct way of thinking.
At present, the main obstacle to cross-strait reunification is that the residents of the two sides of the strait have been separated for many years, and although they know that both sides are the descendants of the Chinese nation and Yan Huang, they lack an intuitive concept of each other. In particular, under the influence of years of distorted news, the People of Taiwan still have some misunderstandings about the people on the mainland, and how to re-establish a sense of identity between the two sides and eliminate misunderstandings between the two sides is the main direction of the future of the United Front.
The so-called people are the main body of the country, and only then can the people of Taiwan decide the future of Taiwan. Compared with a very small number of politicians on Taiwan Island with extreme ideologies, the vast number of Taiwan people who still have the self-perception of "Chinese" are the facilitators of cross-strait reunification, and if the will of the people is in their favor, the influence of a very small number of politicians is not enough to threaten cross-strait reunification.
The drone incident may just be the beginning of the people on both sides of the strait began to build a sense of identity. After the so-called "borders" in the past were broken and the concept of "China's own territory" was gradually established, more Taiwanese people can realize that they and mainlanders live in the same land, and the sense of identity between the two sides will begin to be established subtly.
Of course, this is just an extension and reflection on this event, and there are more uncertainties in reality. But one thing we must all admit is that cross-strait reunification has begun when it is difficult for us to detect it.