The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET) hosted a delegation from the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) on July 6, with discussions focused on energy security, critical mineral supply chains, and the drone industry.
Founded in 1979, Ifri is a leading French think tank specializing in international relations research and policy analysis. The delegation was led by Marc Julienne, Director of Ifri’s Center for Asian Studies, and included Céline Pajon, Head of Japan and Indo-Pacific Studies; Sylvia Malinbaum, Head of India and South Asia Studies; and researchers John Seaman and Adrien Simorre.
The delegation first raised questions about Taiwan’s energy mix and public attitudes toward nuclear power. Tsaiying Lu, Director of DSET’s Energy Resilience program, noted that Taipower has launched a safety inspection of the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant, expected to take 1.5 to 2 years to complete. Building the social consensus needed to restart the plant, however, could take 5 to 7 years based on Japan’s experience, and Taiwan still lacks a final disposal site for intermediate- and high-level radioactive waste.
The delegation also asked about the current status of Taiwan’s rare earth separation technology and the potential for international partnerships. Lu explained that in response to China’s tightening export controls on semiconductor-related materials, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has commissioned the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to develop rare earth recovery and refining technologies, with a focus on key semiconductor materials for which Taiwan’s dependence on China exceeds 50%—making them the most vulnerable to disruption. Another avenue under development is “urban mining,” which extracts rare materials by recycling semiconductor waste.
DSET CEO Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang also pointed out that Taiwan has historically purchased semiconductor materials directly from foreign suppliers for the sake of efficiency. He noted that by building up R&D capacity and refining technology, Taiwan can move beyond the role of a simple buyer and strengthen its bargaining power and political leverage.
On drones, DSET’s National Security team noted that UAV trade between Taiwan and Japan remains limited—Taiwan exported only 45 units to Japan last year, while Japan exported just 3 to Taiwan—largely due to Japan’s smaller domestic market, underdeveloped manufacturing base, and regulatory gaps, including the lack of a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA). DSET pointed out, however, that Japan has committed roughly 1 trillion yen to defense-related unmanned systems over 2023–2028, making it one of the few countries in Asia investing at this scale—a move that has already drawn interest from Ukrainian drone manufacturers. While Japan’s manufacturing capacity still lags far behind Taiwan’s, DSET assessed that this funding will likely drive market growth, and encouraged Taiwan to explore complementary cooperation opportunities given its lead in manufacturing scale.
The Ifri delegation welcomed the strong overlap in research priorities between France and Taiwan and expressed hope for continued collaboration on geopolitical and technology issues going forward.
