Tycoon Robert Tsao (曹興誠) has pledged funding for the domestic production of 1 million combat drones to defend Taiwan in the event of military conflict with China.
In an interview published by the Financial Times on Wednesday, Tsao said that he had spoken with drone manufacturers in Taiwan about setting up an industry alliance to research and develop combat drones at a lower cost.
The 1 million drones would be armed and the plan is to have them operational in the next two to three years, he said in the interview.
Photo: screen grab from Hsiao-chun Taiwan PLUS
The drones would be on the front line in Taiwan’s defense if the Chinese military were to launch an amphibious assault, he said, adding that their weapons would target enemy troops and Chinese warships if they tried to land on Taiwan’s beaches.
Tsao, who founded semiconductor maker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), on Sept. 1 said that he would donate NT$3 billion (US$94.7 million) to bolster Taiwan’s defense against the threat of a Chinese military invasion.
Among Tsao’s plans were NT$600 million to fund the Kuma Academy to set up local militia units — or “black bear warriors” — training them in combat tactics, guerrilla warfare, cognitive warfare and first aid.
He also promised NT$400 million to train 300,000 “sharpshooters” as another line of defense against Chinese troops.
In a separate interview with Deutsche Welle published on Wednesday, Tsao said that when he conducted UMC business in China, he told top Chinese government officials that “talk of ‘one country, two systems’ is a plot to deceive” Taiwanese.
“Beijing’s leadership touted the ‘one country, two systems’ formula for Taiwan, but they believed that the Republic of China was dead, so the rhetoric was essentially directed at a ‘ghost,’” he said.
China pushed through an extradition law for Hong Kong in 2019 designed to allow suspects to be prosecuted in mainland China, prompting vehement protests among Hong Kongers, he said.
The law was ultimately not implemented.
“Beijing’s leaders saw the protests as riots against Chinese authority,” he said. “At that time, I had dinner with a top Chinese official. He told me the way to proceed was to hire hooligans to work with police officers to beat up protesters, then Hong Kongers would not defy the Chinese government.”
“So this was done,” he said. “On July 21, 2019, there was the Yuen Long attack, during which police deployed hooligans with batons and clubs who indiscriminately assaulted protesters.”
“Before that, I did not believe they would do such a thing,” Tsao said.
“Seeing what happened in Hong Kong and the violent suppression of the people was shocking,” he said. “I felt ashamed to have kept company” with the Chinese officals.
“It showed the true face of the Chinese Communist Party, a hooligan regime conducting violence against ordinary people,” he said. “If it cannot get its way, its solution is to hire hooligans to beat people up.”
“People in Hong Kong used peaceful means at street events to express their views, but the Chinese government used cruel means of suppression, including beatings. It really made me angry. So I decided to never go to China, Hong Kong or Macau again,” he said.
“Taiwanese must watch out,” he said. “If we get into such a situation, then it will be too late, there is no way back to freedom and democracy.”
China’s nationalism defies the progress of civilization, while Taiwan has advanced with civilization, “as Taiwan values reason, science, progress, peace, human rights, the rule of law and democracy,” he said. “That is why we cannot be unified with China.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS