The opening of the Joint Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Information Security Laboratory at the Kaohsiung Science Park yesterday was met by protests that ever-changing government policy has significantly increased overhead for drone operators.
The laboratory is part of a comprehensive government plan to regulate UAVs, with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) expected to propose an amendment to the Regulations of Drones (遙控無人機管理規則) next month.
The laboratory is expected to establish a standard and distribute information security certification for UAVs, the Executive Yuan said in a report.
Photo: CNA
The facility can process about 95 drones per day.
A group of about 40 protesters said the government’s changes in policy do not take into account drone operators’ overheads.
Kaohsiung UAV Technician Union member Lo Jui-hao (羅睿豪) said that operators were willing to comply with government policies, but that the ever-increasing rules were unbearable.
“They are killing the development of the UAV industry,” Lo said.
Lo said he spent more than NT$1 million (US$32,693) over two-and-a-half years to obtain certification for his drone, which weighs more than 25kg and is used in agriculture.
Lo said it is absurd that after all that effort, he would have to obtain a separate certificate for information security, adding: “The government’s standards are constantly changing.”
Kaohsiung Remote-controlled Sports Association Director Chen Ching-ting (陳慶庭) said that there are too many CAA regulations, most of which are not enforced, adding that there were “black flight operators.”
Chen said that the government is punishing those who obey the rules and forcing people to operate outside the law.
CAA Director Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) said that, in principle, the agency is trying to implement regulations at the source, starting with UAVs manufactured domestically and moving to imported devices.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard