Taking Cues From Putin's War, Taiwan Building Military Drones To Counter Xi Jinping

Taiwan said it will expedite development of military drones to counter potential threat posed by China on the island nation. 

What Happened: Taiwanese defence ministry on Tuesday said, taking into account the lessons of Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, it would step up development of drones for its military, reported Reuters. 

“Responding to the present enemy threat and using the general experience of drones in the Ukraine-Russia war, in order to construct an asymmetric combat power for our country’s drones, the defence ministry is speeding up research and development and production of various drones,” Taiwan Defence Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told the media.

See Also: Taiwan Says Xi Jinping Is Learning From Putin's War In Ukraine To Develop ‘Hybrid' Strategies

Sun said National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, which is owned by Taiwan's military, is taking the lead in the development push for military drones and will be including civilian companies.

Ukraine's unmanned aircrafts have played a crucial role in fighting against Putin's army in Kyiv. The war-torn nation's defence minister has said that he regarded drones as the future of modern warfare.

The development from Taiwan comes at a time when Xi Jinping's government in China has been ramping up military and political pressure to try and get Taipei to accept Beijing's sovereignty, including staging war games near the island and warplanes into Taiwan's air defense zone.

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