On June 5, the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) accompanied an international delegation of forum speakers to visit the Presidential Office and meet with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, ahead of its 2026 forum, the “National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience.”
According to a press release issued by the Presidential Office, Vice President Hsiao welcomed the distinguished guests to Taiwan for exchanges and expressed appreciation to DSET for facilitating this dialogue at a time when supply chain resilience has become increasingly important.
The vice president noted that the COMPUTEX Taipei exhibition demonstrates the comprehensiveness and resilience of Taiwan’s technology ecosystem. Taiwan has not only maintained its advantages in hardware manufacturing but has also actively advanced software development and AI applications, further strengthening its overall technological capabilities.
The vice president stated that the government is advancing key initiatives such as the “New Ten AI Major Construction Projects.” In addition to investing in the development of frontier technologies, the government aims to continue enhancing infrastructure such as computing capacity to strengthen Taiwan’s overall competitiveness. She emphasized that the government will also focus on ensuring that the benefits of technological development reach a broader range of industries and social sectors, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and traditional industries, in order to promote industrial transformation and balanced growth.
The vice president further highlighted that while some traditional industries may not be directly involved in AI development, their importance is being reassessed amid global supply chain restructuring and efforts to establish secure and trusted supply chains. These industries are increasingly being integrated into broader frameworks of national security and industrial development, while also creating new opportunities for collaboration with emerging technologies and AI.
The vice president also pointed out Taiwan’s significant progress in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry in recent years. Two years ago, Taiwan’s UAV sector was still at an early stage of development; today, it has evolved into an industrial ecosystem involving hundreds of companies, including system integrators and manufacturers of key components. The government had originally planned to allocate additional resources through a special defense budget to support the sector’s development. Although the proposal did not receive support from opposition parties, the government will continue strengthening communication with various sectors of society to build broader understanding and support.
The vice president also highlighted DSET’s “National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience,” describing it as an important platform that brings together discussions on technological innovation, industrial cooperation, and national security. She expressed appreciation to participants from around the world for gathering in Taiwan to explore future directions in technology and security development. Taiwan looks forward to working with international partners to build trusted and resilient supply chains, deepen global cooperation, and jointly advance technological innovation, industrial development, and democratic resilience.
The delegation was led by Chris Miller, author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology, and also included former U.S. government officials, business leaders, and think tank experts.
Participants included David Feith, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Senior Director for Technology and National Security at the White House National Security Council (NSC); Chris McGuire, Senior Fellow for China and Emerging Technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and former Deputy Senior Director for Technology and National Security at the NSC; and Dean Ball, former Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who participated in drafting the Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan, and currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI).
Representatives from the international business community included Matt Cronin, Senior National Security Advisor at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z); Jason Fiorillo, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Boston Dynamics, and Brenda Schulman, Vice President of Policy & Government Relations at Boston Dynamics; as well as Alexander Chang, Managing Director for East Asia at Anduril Industries, a leading autonomous systems company with long-standing cooperation with Taiwan, and Michael Robbins, President and CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
Think tank experts participating in the delegation included Andrii Ordynovych, former defense attache of Ukraine to the United States; Martijn Rasser, Vice President for Technology Leadership at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP); Mark Cancian, Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); Molly Campbell, Research Associate at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS); Sunny Cheung, Fellow for China Studies at The Jamestown Foundation; as well as Anton Antonenko, Co-founder and Deputy Director of Ukraine’s energy think tank DiXi Group, and Artur Savchii, Analyst at the Snake Island Institute.
Deputy Minister Faa-Jeng Lin of National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), DSET President Wen-Ling Tu, Vice President Hsien-Ming Lien, CEO Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang, Director of the Energy Resilience Program Tsai-Ying Lu, and Director of the Democratic Governance Program Kai-Shen Huang also joined the meeting.
In addition to meeting with the Vice President, the delegation also paid a visit to Taiwan’s National Security Council (NSC) later the same day, where they engaged in exchanges with Secretary-General Joseph Wu, Senior Advisor Yuh-Jye Lee and Te-chin Liu, and Deputy Secretary-General Wen Lii.
