Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Monday vowed to speed up the replacement of the government’s uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), after legislators raised concerns that more than 70 percent were made in China.
Su was speaking during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, which proceeded as usual in the absence of a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus boycott.
If “information security is national security,” as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has said, then the Chinese-made UAVs are a matter of national security, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Japan and the US have already restricted the use of UAVs made by Chinese companies, Ho said.
Japan is to replace 1,000 of its Chinese-made UAVs, as they might be sending information to China, she said, adding that it plans to swap out the UAVs it uses to find criminal suspects, build critical infrastructure and conduct topographical surveys of confidential areas.
Starting next year, when a Japanese department wants to buy new UAVs, it must consult with the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat and conduct a risk assessment, Ho added.
In the US, the government has for years issued warnings about Chinese UAVs over espionage fears, most recently considering a ban on federal agencies buying or using any foreign-made UAV.
Despite this, more than 70 percent of the 726 UAVs government agencies use are made by Chinese companies, Ho said.
The Council of Agriculture uses 221 Chinese UAVs, followed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs with 167, and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications with 88, she said.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Administration use 22 and 21 Chinese UAVs respectively, Ho added.
The National Communications Commission’s Telecom Technology Center even found evidence that Chinese UAVs could pose an information security risk, she said.
During testing, the center found some abnormalities, including GPS signal interference and logs containing sensitive data, leading commission Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) to say that “some definitely raise security concerns,” Ho said.
In April last year, the Executive Yuan announced a policy restricting agencies from using any products that might imperil national security, requiring them to conduct inventories and replace any unsuitable equipment, Ho said.
However, the policy has not been implemented well, she said, adding that the inventory results have still not been released.
The Cabinet says that it is still finalizing its information security blacklist, but national security cannot wait, Ho said, asking when the list would be announced and the equipment replaced.
In response, Su vowed to implement strong protective measures, as many products from China have been linked to the Chinese military.
If there is any doubt about the security of a product, it should be gotten rid of, Su said.
Su told Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) to instruct government agencies to complete their inventories and replacements in a timely manner in line with the original policy.
Apart from replacing the UAVs, Ho also called on the Cabinet to consider follow-up measures and ensure that contractors prove the absence of any security concerns.
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