TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's defense minister on Wednesday (Oct. 5) updated the country's definition of a "first strike" to include Chinese military aircraft and drones that intrude on the country's airspace.

During a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday (Oct. 5), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) asked Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) if the median line still exists, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正). Chiu responded by saying that the median line in the Taiwan Strait was originally a tacit agreement, but "this tacit agreement has already been destroyed by it (China)."

Lo then asked if Taiwan has a red line when it comes to incursions by PLA forces, to which Chiu replied, "We of course have a red line." When pressed if Taiwan would fight back if the red line was crossed, Chiu said, "Yes."

The legislator requested confirmation that Taiwan still has a policy of not taking the "first shot" or launching the "first strike," but rather counterattacking after being struck first. Chiu replied by saying that in the past, an attack with artillery shells or missiles was considered a "first strike."

However, he said that "now the definition has obviously changed" as the PLA has started to deploy drones and other new weapons. Chiu said that the defense ministry has already adjusted the definition of "first strike" to mean any flight by Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan's airspace, which it defines as 12 nautical miles from its coast.

Referring to China's gray zone warfare tactics, Lo asked if an intrusion into Taiwan's airspace by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is also a "first strike." Chiu agreed that a UAV incursion into Taiwan's airspace is also now considered a "first strike."

Lo also called on the defense ministry to "think out of the box" to develop protocols in place to deal with gray zone tactics such as positioning a warship on the edge of Taiwan's territorial waters that launches a drone into Taiwanese airspace, as well as the penetration of territorial waters by unmanned surface vehicles (USVs).