Drone Regulation Bill Under Initial Review; Defense Minister Ku Urges Cross-Party Support for Executive Yuan Version to Strengthen Capabilities

Central News Agency Report

(CNA reporter Wang Cheng-chung, Taipei, July 16) The Economic, Foreign Affairs and National Defense, and Finance Committees of Taiwan's Legislative Yuan convened a joint session today to concurrently review drone regulation draft bills proposed by the Executive Yuan and by the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucuses. Defense Minister Ku Li-hsiung stated that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has proposed relevant procurement plans based on operational requirements, and expressed hope that political parties across the aisle will recognize national defense needs and pass the Executive Yuan's draft to meet urgent defense demands.

The Legislative Yuan passed the Special Act for Military Procurement in May but deleted items such as drones and unmanned surface vessels. To continue advancing the development of domestically produced defense unmanned vehicles, the Executive Yuan approved the draft Special Act for the Procurement of Indigenous Defense Unmanned Vehicles on June 18, allocating a special budget of up to NT$210 billion. This budget will be used from August this year through the end of 2031 (Minguo 120) to progressively acquire indigenous defense unmanned vehicles.

On June 30, the KMT and TPP caucuses in the Legislative Yuan each submitted their own party-version drone regulation drafts. The KMT caucus proposed the 'Draft Act for the Development and Procurement of Indigenous Defense Unmanned Vehicles,' totaling NT$240 billion over six years, to be annually budgeted through regular government funds at NT$40 billion per year. The TPP caucus proposed the 'Draft Act to Strengthen Indigenous Defense and Promote Drone Industry Development,' advocating a return to regular budgeting, with actual funding amounts to be determined by the executive branch based on fiscal conditions and needs, under the premise of adhering to fiscal discipline laws.

On July 3, the Legislative Yuan convened a plenary session and referred the drone regulation drafts proposed by the Executive Yuan, KMT caucus, TPP caucus, and DPP legislators including Lin Chu-yin to the Economic, Foreign Affairs and National Defense, and Finance Committees for review. Today, these three committees held their first joint session to concurrently review the drone regulation drafts, inviting Defense Minister Ku Li-hsiung to attend and respond to inquiries.

Prior to attending, Ku told reporters that the MND's position has consistently been that procurement plans are based on the military's operational needs. He expressed hope that political parties will understand defense requirements and pass the Executive Yuan's draft to meet urgent national defense needs and build unmanned vehicle combat capabilities.

Regarding the MND's plan to outsource guard duties at military academies, with a two-phase trial starting in September at nine locations, which has sparked public debate, Ku noted that some have confused military academies with military bases. He explained that the MND is following international practices, where military academies commonly use private security firms for access control.

Ku emphasized that core military missions and the protection of strategically important or critical military sites will still be handled by military personnel. He clarified that access control at military academies is fundamentally different from the defense of military fortresses and other sensitive locations. (Edited by Yang Kai-xiang) 1150716

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