DSET on Nov. 4 led a delegation to visit the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security (IIPS). Participants included IIPS President John Gastright Jr., Senior Director Yuki Tatsumi, Senior Director for Research Michael Mazza, Director of Program Grace Price, and Research Associate Griffin Allen. The discussion addressed issues concerning China’s semiconductor supply chain and AI data centers, Taiwan’s energy resilience, and Taiwan-US cooperation on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
DSET CEO Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang first introduced DSET’s research works from recent years. He noted that this meeting was the second exchange between the two organizations, following IIPS’s visit to DSET in September, expressing the hope that the opportunity would provide greater insights for Taiwan-US collaboration on various issues. IIPS Senior Director Tatsumi mentioned that Taiwan’s energy and drone issues share many similarities with those in Japan, suggesting that Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea should hold more relevant discussions to deepen trilateral cooperation.
IIPS President Gastright then posed three questions regarding Taiwan’s energy security and emergency responses: current strategic energy stockpiling strategies, whether coal-fired units will be expanded, and the near-term possibility of restarting nuclear power plants. Director Tsaiying Lu of the Energy Security and Climate Resilience Program took Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as an example, stating that natural gas will remain a vital energy source for Taiwan and is projected to account for approximately 50% of electricity generation by 2030. Therefore, in addition to continually diversifying import sources, Lu stated that Taiwan is also increasing the number of receiving terminals and storage tanks to increase security stockpileShe further clarified that Taiwan remains committed to its coal phase-out policy, with decommissioned coal-fired units being converted for emergency backup use. Regarding the conditions for restarting nuclear power plants, besides meeting the government’s three prerequisites, Lu explained that the Ukrainian experience highlights interconnected transmission lines and cooling systems as primary targets for attack, and related risks should be taken into consideration.
Deputy Director Hong-Lun Tiunn of DSET’s National Security Program then briefed participants on the “Drones for Democracy: U.S.-Taiwan Cooperation in Building a Resilient and China-Free UAV Supply Chain” report regarding non-red drone supply chain. In the briefing, he pointed out that Taiwan’s drone manufacturing capacity has risen rapidly in recent years, stimulated by government initiative. He suggested that deeper supply chain cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. would benefit development of Taiwan’s drone industrial base. Regarding the question raised by participants about how Taiwan can achieve its drone manufacturing capacity goal by 2028, Tiunn explained that the recently announced procurement from military as well as governmental agencies provide key incentives for the industry. He added that the growth in Taiwan’s drone export data provides indirect evidence of increasing domestic manufacturing capacity. However, Tiunn also noted that the review progress of both special and annual defense budgets which contain drone procurement in the Legislative Yuan will significantly affect the private sector’s confidence in government procurement and initiative. Furthermore, he emphasized that drone technology iterates rapidly and DSET’s National Security Program will focus on research topics including how to ensure the prompt acquisition of the latest models, continuous software/firmware updates, establishment of maintenance/repair capabilities, and maintenance of interoperability with allies.
