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.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
WASHED ASHORE: Of the 16 bodies discovered along Taiwan’s west coast this month, two were Vietnamese and five were Taiwanese, coast guard officials said Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that he has instructed prosecutors and maritime authorities to launch investigations after 16 bodies were found along Taiwan’s west coast this month, amid speculation that they were victims of smuggling or human trafficking rings. Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officials said the bodies, most of which had washed ashore, were found by coast guard personnel and local residents along the coastline from Keelung to Kaohsiung. Thirteen of the bodies are male and three are female, the CGA said, adding that items found on the bodies indicate that two of the men were Vietnamese, while three men
TASK FORCE DISPATCHED: MOFA said it would assist state employees with repatriation or relocation to other ally nations in the region after Tegucigalpa severed ties The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday ordered Honduras to vacate its embassy in Taiwan within 30 days of Sunday after Tegucigalpa made a similar demand of Taiwan. Taipei on Monday announced that it had cut ties with Honduras after the Central American nation earlier said in a statement that it had established ties with Beijing and ended its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. Following the announcements, Honduran Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Garcia spoke on Honduran television saying that Taiwan would be required to vacate its embassy in the Honduran capital. In Taipei, MOFA later told a news conference that “according
CHINA TRIP: The former president said he hoped the two sides of the Taiwan Strait would work together to pursue peace, avoid war and strive to ‘revitalize China’ Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday began a 12-day tour of China with a visit to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. He paid tribute to Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), a founder of the Republic of China, giving a short speech and then bowing in front of the memorial. “The people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the Chinese nation, are children of Yandi (炎帝) and Huangdi (黃帝),” he told reporters who had been allowed to follow him on the trip, referring to figures said to have founded of the Han ethnicity in ancient China. Ma has framed the trip as
RSS