the united states once hyped up the idea of turning the taiwan strait into a "no-man's land hell". what is its intention in organizing 26 drone manufacturers to move to taiwan?
2024-09-25
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taiwan's defense department spokesperson released several photos of the taiwan military's drone deployment on the 22nd. (photo source: taiwan's "china times news")
taiwan news, september 23, taiwan media reported that the us department of commerce led 26 drone-related manufacturers to taiwan on the 22nd to find parts and accessories manufacturers that can be included in the us supply chain. the group will visit the taiwan "national chung-shan institute of science and technology" to gain an in-depth understanding of the development of drones. the democratic progressive party authorities attach great importance to this.
it is reported that this is the first time that these 26 american companies have been arranged by the us government to visit taiwan's defense industry. the main reason is that after the russia-ukraine conflict, the demand for drones has increased significantly. american companies want to find suitable drone parts and accessories manufacturers, and even have taiwan mass produce them and sell them under the us manufacturer's "oem" brand. the two sides have been negotiating on this for a long time, and taiwan's vice president hsiao bi-khim has been pushing this matter behind the scenes. during the four-day trip, the taiwan authorities arranged for the two sides to hold talks and hosted a banquet at the taipei hotel. the report specifically mentioned that it was rare for the taiwan authorities to invite american weapons manufacturers to enter this place in the past.
the delegation reportedly includes aerovironment, which produces the switchblade suicide drone, dedrone, a supplier of anti-drone systems, and northrop grumman, a defense contractor that wants to make a big push into the taiwanese market. officials from the u.s. department of commerce and the department of defense are accompanying the delegation. the report said the u.s. is very interested in taiwan's jianxiang anti-radiation drone system.
it is worth noting that in may last year, the aerospace environment corporation followed the us delegation to visit taiwan's "national academia sinica", which is responsible for the development of military technology and weapons, and related drone companies to discuss the development and production of taiwan's drones. in january 2024, in accordance with the "anti-foreign sanctions law of the people's republic of china", china decided to impose sanctions on the aerospace environment corporation.
according to foreign media reports, taiwan and the united states plan to start cooperation between drone manufacturers on both sides, which is one of the efforts to "build a supply chain that does not rely on mainland china." gu lixiong, head of taiwan's defense department, revealed last week that the two sides will first understand each other's drone production capacity, and then further discuss exchanges and cooperation, or joint production. he also said that taiwan-made drones may not be suitable for using their own brands, but can become part of the international supply chain. whether this means that taiwan's military drones will be purchased from the united states first has aroused concern.
the us has repeatedly hyped up the concept of "taiwan strait drone warfare" in an attempt to prevent the pla from "attacking taiwan". the us think tank "center for a new american security" once released a report analyzing the role of drones in a taiwan strait war. the report said that mainland china has a large fleet of drones, which may give it an advantage in a taiwan strait war. the united states should give priority to developing low-cost long-range drones to cope with the disadvantage of long distances. the report also suggested that taiwan develop cheap small drones for close-range combat and study how to integrate drones with ground firepower.
at this year's shangri-la dialogue, samuel paparo, commander of the u.s. indo-pacific command, rehashed the so-called "hellscape" plan proposed by his predecessor, claiming that if mainland china "invades" taiwan, the u.s. military will deploy thousands of drones and unmanned boats in the taiwan strait to delay and consume the enemy, thereby buying time for the u.s. military and its allies to launch a full-scale counterattack.
shortly after paparo finished speaking, the united states announced the approval of two batches of arms sales to taiwan totaling approximately us$360 million, mainly including the switchblade-300 missile system and the altius 600m-v drone, as well as supporting parts and training services. according to data disclosed by taiwan’s defense department, in 2024, the taiwan military plans to purchase a total of 968 drones of seven models.
however, according to us media, these us-made drones have become notorious for their poor performance in the ukrainian battlefield. ukrainian frontline personnel and pentagon officials have said that us-made drones are often expensive, prone to failure, difficult to repair, unable to resist russian signal interference and gps shielding technology, and often fail to achieve the advertised flight distance. experts say that the taiwan military is still spending hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase these us drones that have been proven unsuitable for combat in the russian-ukrainian conflict, which is obviously a typical "sucker's arms purchase."
the ministry of national defense once responded that those who clamor to turn other people's homes into hell should first prepare to go to hell themselves. some people in the united states are extremely crazy and are willing to turn the taiwan strait into a "hell on earth" in order to "use taiwan to control china." this also once again shows that the "taiwan independence" elements who want to "rely on the united states to seek independence" will ultimately not be able to escape the fate of being "chess pieces" becoming "abandoned pieces."
regarding the military connection between the united states and taiwan, the ministry of national defense clearly pointed out that the taiwan issue is the first red line that cannot be crossed in sino-us relations. we urge the united states to earnestly implement its commitment not to support "taiwan independence", stop military connection between the united states and taiwan, stop arming taiwan in any way, and take practical actions to maintain the stable, healthy and sustainable development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries. the chinese people's liberation army will continue to strengthen training and preparations, take decisive and effective measures, and resolutely thwart any "taiwan independence" separatist plots and external interference. (editor/li ning)
