Foreign Minister Lin leads UAV business delegation to Europe – Taipei Times

• By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday led a delegation of businesspeople from 20 uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturing companies to Lithuania to develop business relationships with European companies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.

The ministry commissioned the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) to organize the delegation to showcase Taiwan’s UAV development and manufacturing capabilities, and demonstrate its potential value to the UAV supply chains of other democratic countries, the ministry said.

The group is visiting Europe from yesterday until Sunday, it said.

The delegation led by Lin would meet with European UAV companies, and together they can hopefully strengthen the global democratic UAV supply chain, MOFA said.

When it comes to defense technology and economic security, many countries are placing great importance on the UAV industry, it said.

A core concept of Lin’s “integrated diplomacy” strategy is to use Taiwan’s technological advantages to become a trusted part of the national defense supply chains of other democratic countries, it added.

Lin invited an alliance of drone manufacturers led by Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (漢翔航空) chairman Hu Kai-Hung (胡開宏) to co-organize the visit with TAITRA, the ministry said, adding that Hu was also asked to be the delegation’s leader.

Bloomberg yesterday reported that a source, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive matter, said the delegation is expected to meet Lithuanian government officials and attend a forum in Vilnius focused on drone technologies.

President William Lai (賴清德) has made advancing drone manufacturing a priority since he took office nearly six months ago, an effort partly intended to offset the Chinese military’s technological edge in this area, the Bloomberg report said.

In September, Taiwan hosted two groups of US industry executives so that they could meet counterparts, and the Ministry of Defense last month signed agreements with the US allowing it to buy as many as 1,000 attack drones from AeroVironment and Anduril Industries to aid in blunting a potential Chinese invasion, the report said.

Former minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) traveled to Europe twice last year. In past years, other Taiwanese foreign ministers made trips that were not publicly disclosed, likely to avoid upsetting Beijing, Bloomberg said.

Lin’s trip would probably prompt China to file diplomatic complaints with Lithuania, and possibly to retaliate somehow against Taiwan, it said, adding that Beijing opposes any official contact with Taipei by countries with which it has diplomatic ties.