The Executive Yuan plans to tighten cybersecurity regulations governing civilian drones, including a mandate for comprehensive testing of all commercially available models, an official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) asked the Cabinet to produce new regulations targeting privately owned drones following reports that some Chinese-made systems were utilized during Double Ten National Day performances last year, the person said.
The rules being considered would require all drones sold on the commercial market to obtain cybersecurity certificates, and would ban the use of uncertified uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), the official said.
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
The use of uncertified drones could become punishable by a fine of up to NT$1.5 million (US$49,774) under the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法), the person said.
Taiwan has 40,000 privately owned UAVs, including 30,000 drones registered to individuals and 10,000 to commercial entities, foundations and groups, the official said.
Chinese-made UAVs are banned for official use in Taiwan, but no restrictions are placed on private use, other than a safety rules limiting their weight and flight range.
The scheme being designed aims to regulate the private ownership and utilization of drones by establishing comprehensive standards for cybersecurity, flight safety, license verification, radio signal broadcast authorization and background checks on the users, the person said.
The certification system would be jointly managed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the National Communications Commission and the Civil Aviation Administration, which is tasked with creating and managing a drone database, the official said.
The aviation authority is expected to hold a public forum to discuss the matter within the next few weeks, then unveil regulatory amendments next month and have them promulgated in April, the person said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Digital Affairs plans to open a drone cybersecurity inspection facility on March 1 to test the estimated 1,000 types of drones being used in Taiwan before the year’s end, the official said.
The ministry plans to introduce restrictions on privately owned UAVs to protect public safety, national secrets at sensitive sites, air traffic and the security of officials, the person said, adding that a sunset clause would protect existing drones that do not meet the proposed new standards.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile applications. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, also unveiled its A12 chip at its annual technology symposium in Santa Clara, California. The A12 chip, which features TSMC’s super-power-rail technology to provide backside power delivery for AI and HPC applications, is also to enter volume production in 2029, a year after the scheduled release of the A14 chip. The technology moves
RSS