Taiwan's Lai urges deeper drone cooperation with democracies — SkimNews
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- President Lai Ching-te said on Sept 28 that Taiwan must deepen cooperation with democratic partners on drones, calling unmanned systems "important combat strength in modern defence" and citing the Ukrainian battlefield.
- Lai spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new drone development centre in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, framing the site as increasingly significant given changes in the international situation.
- Taiwan's Cabinet proposed an additional T$145.7 billion (S$5.86 billion) in defence spending for 2026, with plans covering more than 600 coastal surveillance and reconnaissance drones and over 40,000 coastal attack drones.
- The 2026 spending proposal also includes the first batch of over 100 small suicide drone boats, plus anti-ballistic missiles and advanced surveillance systems.
- Taiwan is leveraging its world-class semiconductor and ICT capabilities alongside its precision manufacturing base to build a resilient unmanned aircraft supply chain for Indo-Pacific security.
- The drone push comes amid stepped-up military pressure from China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory; Lai rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Why it matters: The T$145.7 billion budget proposal — covering 40,000+ coastal attack drones and the first batch of 100 suicide drone boats — represents Taiwan's most concrete effort yet to convert its semiconductor manufacturing depth into mass-produced autonomous warfare capacity, escalating its deterrence posture against Beijing's mounting pressure.
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