The Trans-Pacific Unmanned Vehicle Parliamentary Alliance (TUVPA) was inaugurated in Taipei yesterday, with association members pledging to transform the uncrewed vehicle industry into Taiwan’s next “national defense pillar.”
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱), who initiated the launch of the alliance, said that the applications of uncrewed vehicles have surpassed military operations, extending widely into areas such as delivery logistics, disaster relief, maritime salvage and aerial surveying.
The alliance aims to leverage the stature of the legislature to align with international standards, promote the improvement of domestic legal systems, and share experiences in cross-border promotion and application, he said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan has the most important core of uncrewed vehicles — the “chip,” he said.
If Taiwan can improve its system integration capabilities, and connect its industry and supply chains, it is bound to become the most important hub of the global democratic alliance’s “non-red supply chain,” he added.
It is hoped that through this platform, Taiwan’s independent and rich technological achievements would be seen by the world, Chung said, adding that this would allow the uncrewed vehicle industry to not only take root in Taiwan, but also expand internationally, “becoming the second ‘national defense pillar’ after semiconductors.”
One of the highlights of the inauguration ceremony yesterday was a key briefing by Peter Mattis, president of the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, and Sunny Cheung (張崑陽), a Chinese affairs researcher.
Cheung referenced a survey conducted in collaboration with the Wall Street Journal which revealed that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last month announced the establishment of a national-level Humanoid Robot Special Committee. The committee integrates top companies such as Unitree and Fourier, along with research institutions with ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
This indicates that China is undergoing an unprecedented “military-civil fusion” effort to develop autonomous platform technologies, he said.
In this context, the US and its democratic allies are pushing for a global realignment of supply chains, he added.
Taiwan, with its expertise in motors, sensors and critical edge computing artificial intelligence chips, plays a pivotal role in building a supply chain controlled by like-minded nations, Cheung said, urging Taiwan to mobilize its national resources through the alliance.
In the face of the rapid evolution of technology and manufacturing, Taiwan, as the technology hub in the Asia-Pacific region, must master the ability to produce independent research and development, and manufacturing, Legislative Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chang Yu-jung (張裕榮) said.
He expressed the hope that through the alliance, Taiwan can deepen its partnerships with friendly nations and strengthen its resilience in a changing international landscape.
Among the attendees at the event were representatives from the American Institute in Taiwan, the British Office in Taipei, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the India-Taipei Association and the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.
Representatives from government agencies such as the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the National Development Council and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, as well as companies such as Thunder Tiger Technology and Taiwan Drone 100, also took part in the event.
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