Taiwan's vice president says the island's drone industry can catch up with China, the US, and Ukraine by selling trusted "non-red" supply chain hardware and adding AI — good news for Taiwan's tech makers, but it depends on state money.

• Taiwan started late on drones, but exports in the first quarter of this year already topped all of last year's total.
• The selling point is trust: buyers want drones and parts not made in China, where DJI dominates on price and market share.
• Parliament is racing to pass a special drone law, and the industry needs government budget and long-term bulk orders to scale.
• Weak drone defenses could make Beijing misjudge Taiwan's willingness to fight, tying the industry directly to deterrence.
• The next step is software: adding AI so drones can fly themselves, work in swarms, and flag problems automatically instead of needing someone watching a screen.

Outlook: Expect Taiwan to push drones as a second "protective mountain" industry alongside chips, with the special law and public funding the near-term test.