Taiwanese leader requests 1.6 billion approval to acquire drones

According to Radio Taiwan International (RTI), Lai made these statements during the inauguration of new facilities of the Chung-Shan National Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the main entity responsible for the development of the island’s weapons, and the start of the works of an aerospace and drone park in Chiayi County.

“ Everything is prepared, only the last impulse is missing”, said the Head of State, referring to the lack of parliamentary support for the allocation of these funds, which, he explained, will allow the Ministry of Defense to purchase from Taiwanese manufacturers and promote the autonomous development of the sector.

The new NCSIST complex, built with an investment of more than USD 1.1 billion (EUR 31 million), will be in charge of research, testing and production of military-use drones.

The adjacent industrial park will have a public investment of approximately $6.9 billion (EUR 194 million) and will be completed by 2028, according to RTI.

Lai argued that Taiwan has the capacity to become the “Asian center of the democratic drone supply chain”, relying on its semiconductor industries and information technologies.

The bet on unmanned vehicles has become one of the pillars of Taipei’s “asymmetric war” strategy, a military concept in which the weakest side in a conflict between parties with great imbalance of forces, resources or technologies avoids direct combat and uses unconventional tactics to exploit the enemy’s faults

The opposition-controlled parliament reduced in May the extraordinary Defense budget proposed by the executive and excluded funds for local production drones.

However, in August it approved a separate plan worth USD 240 billion (EUR 6,7 billion) for the acquisition of these systems over six years, giving priority to those manufactured on the island.

The strengthening of national production also coincides with the uncertainty surrounding an American arms package for Taiwan valued at USD 14 billion (12 billion), which has not yet received the approval of Donald Trump's administration.

After the recent summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington, Taipei argued that the advance of these sales would be “vital interest” for the United States.

Beijing considers Taiwan an inalienable part of its territory and does not exclude the use of force to take control of the island, while the Taiwanese Government maintains that only its inhabitants can decide their political future.

In June, China warned Taiwan that “looking for independence by relying on the United States or using military force is a dead end.”.

Washington approved in December arms sales to Taiwan worth $11.1 billion (EUR 10.3 billion).

On Sunday, the US ambassador to China, David Perdue, stressed that the agreement showed that the Trump Administration sold “more weapons to Taiwan than any other President since 1979.”.

Arms sales to Taiwan remain a sensitive issue between Washington and Beijing.

The US is legally obliged to supply from Taiwan, governed by a democratically elected President and parliament, weapons that guarantee the island's defence.