Taiwan Building “China-Free” Drones

One of the great lessons of the last few years of geopolitics and economics is that it’s not enough to simply have moral/legal authority and money, real power and prosperity requires actual physical inventory and manufacturing capacity.

In a world where Russia is willing to buck sanctions and condemnation to invade a sovereign nation and where trade barriers / epidemics can cut off critical supplies, the ability to produce weapons and medical equipment can be life or death.

It’s no wonder, then, that Taiwan, a mere 100 miles away from a Russian ally/sponsor who denies its independence, has found it wise to start building up its own military production. Learning from Ukraine’s (and now Iran’s) successes with drones against a larger attacker and tapping into growing Western concerns about the China-Russia-Iran axis, they’ve started building drone technology devoid of Chinese parts (“non-red” so to speak), many of which appear to have already been deployed to Ukraine.

In an era where piloted (and eventually autonomous) drone swarms will become a much greater part of warfare, this technological and, just as important, manufacturing capability is vital not only to Taiwan but to the West as it increasingly enters a Cold War with China and its allies.