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.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary