It is the first time that UAVs from mainland China are known to have crossed the unofficial line that divides the strait

Drone made crossing along with warplanes on Thursday, while more sorties were logged on Friday and Saturday

Taiwan’s military has confirmed for the first time that the People’s Liberation Army flew drones across the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait this week.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 45 PLA aircraft flew around Taiwan on Thursday, 25 of which crossed the median line, including a BT-100 unmanned aerial vehicle. It also confirmed that more drones had crossed the line on Friday and Saturday.

On Monday, it said another PLA drone – identified as a BZK-007 – had entered Taiwan’s southwest air defence identification zone, a rare revelation of the model and its flight route.

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The sorties came after the Taiwan military shot down a civilian drone that flew into restricted waters near Shiyu, a tiny Taiwanese-controlled island a few kilometres from the Chinese mainland.

The median line of the Taiwan Strait – which separates mainland China and Taiwan and connects the East and South China seas – was demarcated by Benjamin Davis Jnr, a senior US air force commander, in 1955 and Washington then pressured both sides to enter into a tacit agreement not to cross it.