TAIPEI (Reuters) - A new type of&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;combat&nbsp;drone&nbsp;that China's state media&nbsp;says&nbsp;can carry a heavy weapons payload has flown around&nbsp;Taiwan, the&nbsp;island's defence ministry said on Friday, in the latest uptick in military tensions.
China, which views democratically governed&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;as its own territory, has increased military pressure on the&nbsp;island&nbsp;over the past three years as it tries to force Taipei to accept Beijing's sovereignty claims.
This month China staged war games around&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;after&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;President Tsai Ing-wen met in Los Angeles with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Taiwan's defence ministry, in its daily update of&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;military activities from the previous 24 hours, said 19 military aircraft had entered the&nbsp;island's air defence identification zone.
One of those aircraft was a TB-001&nbsp;drone, which flew around&nbsp;Taiwan, first crossing the Bashi Channel that separates&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;from the Philippines, then up the east of&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;before crossing back toward the&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;coast, according to a map provided by the ministry.
Chinese&nbsp;state media has referred to the TB-001 as the "twin-tailed scorpion" and has shown pictures of it with missiles under its wings, saying it is capable of high altitude, long-range missions.
China's air force has flown what it calls "island&nbsp;encirclement" missions with the nuclear-capable H-6 bomber.
No shots were fired and&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;aircraft have not flown in&nbsp;Taiwan's airspace. The air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, is a broader area&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;monitors and patrols to give its forces more time to respond to threats.
Chinese&nbsp;military aircraft have since last year regularly crossed the median line of the&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;Strait, which normally serves as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, though China&nbsp;says&nbsp;it does not recognise this.
Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims and&nbsp;says&nbsp;only the&nbsp;island's people can decide their future.
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(Reporting by Ben Blanchard. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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Taiwan says Chinese combat drone circled island