Turning now to the U.S. defense contractors who are now on their fourth day in Taiwan. The delegation toured an artificial intelligence cybersecurity giant this morning, before holding closed-door talks with local drone parts manufacturers. After the meeting, a Taiwanese drone assembler said that currently, many key parts used by the domestic drone industry are purchased from the U.S. The goal now is to make those essential parts right at home, by engaging in technology transfers and industrial collaboration with the U.S.
Over the past week, the U.S. contractors visited a rocket technology company in Miaoli and attended a defense industry forum. They also stopped by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and met local companies in AI cybersecurity and drone development. On Thursday, Taiwan’s defense minister rejected speculation that the group was in Taiwan to sell weapons. He said the contractors had not made any requests of his ministry, and that he himself had not met them for talks.