Taiwan and U.S. work to counter China’s drone dominance

A Ukrainian soldier operates a DJI drone on the front line of the war, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in March 2023. U.S. authorities consider Chinese drone-maker DJI a security threat. | TYLER HICKS photo

by CHRIS BUCKLEY AND AMY CHANG CHIEN
September 25, 2024

TAIPEI – Spurred by worries about China’s strength in mass-producing drones, American and Taiwanese companies and government officials are working to join forces in manufacturing the air and sea vehicles that could be crucial to defending Taiwan.

Several days of discussions in Taiwan, set to finish Wednesday and held largely away from public view, brought more than two dozen U.S. companies that make drones and antidrone technologies together with Taiwanese firms looking for American knowledge and customers.

The trade mission, organized by the U.S. International Trade Administration, was the latest indication of how the U.S. and Taiwan have been jolted by China’s position as the world’s biggest maker of commercial drones.