Taiwanese prosecutors have detained the head of a drone technology company after investigators allegedly discovered Chinese-made chips and flight-control boards in drones supplied under a military procurement contract, raising new concerns over vulnerabilities in Taiwan’s defense supply chain.
The case comes as Taiwan seeks to build a so-called “non-red supply chain” that reduces reliance on components originating in China, particularly for technologies with military or national-security applications. Though Taiwan operates as an independent nation since its establishment in 1949, under the “One China” policy, Beijing views the island as a “breakaway province,” and has vowed to reclaim it by any means necessary, even if that means resorting to military force to achieve unification.
According to the Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office in Kaohsiung, the probe began after the Army’s Eighth Corps reported suspected Chinese components in drones supplied under a contract awarded in 2025. Prosecutors say that Vision International Technology (航見科技) along with individuals associated with another company, Ruiyang Innovation (睿揚創新), had purchased drone chips packaged in China, Chinese-made flight-control boards, and other components before incorporating them into the aircraft.
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Investigators said that identifying marks were concealed and false certificates of origin submitted to make military inspectors believe the drones complied with procurement requirements. The Eighth Corps detected irregularities during inspection, withheld payment, and referred the case to prosecutors.
Concealing the origin of components
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Investigators searched the two companies on Aug. 11 and questioned Taiwanese-owned company Vision International Technology head Chang Tung-lin (張東琳) and Ruiyang technical supervisor Lo Yi-hsiang (羅翊祥). Prosecutors said the two are suspected of violating provisions of Taiwan’s National Security Act prohibiting certain products manufactured in mainland China from being supplied under specified government contracts, as well as attempted fraud under the Criminal Code.
A court subsequently ordered Chang detained and held incommunicado (cut off from all contact with the outside world), while Lo was released following questioning. Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office Chief Prosecutor Kuo Ching-tung stressed that military procurement directly affects Taiwan’s security and combat readiness.
Vendors who “knowingly use false documentation or other means to circumvent inspection despite being aware that the tender prohibits products from specified sources,” will be investigated in accordance with the law, Kuo said.
Chips marked with ‘CHN’
Questions about the drones first emerged during military inspections in August 2025. Citing a person familiar with the matter, Taiwan’s Liberty Times reported that inspectors found the drone controller consisted of an inexpensive 3D-printed casing and several circuit boards. After examining the boards and searching for matching products online, inspectors reportedly found identical components listed on Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao as originating in China.
When inspectors dismantled the drones, they also discovered chips bearing the letters “CHN,” prompting suspicions that the marking indicated China. The supplier disputed that interpretation, arguing that “CHN” was merely a batch number used for product identification and traceability and did not indicate where the chips were packaged or manufactured.
The documentation submitted by the supplier, however, reportedly identified all components as Taiwanese-made. The military subsequently ordered the company to take back 180 drones and replace chips marked “CHN” with components from non-Chinese sources. When the supplier resubmitted the aircraft, some chips had reportedly been replaced with components packaged in the Philippines.
Inspectors nevertheless found that identifying information on some remaining chips appeared to have been physically ground away, raising suspicions that their origins had been deliberately obscured.
A ticking ‘time bomb’ for national security
The drones also reportedly encountered performance problems. Procurement requirements called for a remote-control range of at least 100 meters, but the aircraft allegedly failed to meet that threshold during testing. A source familiar with the case questioned both the drones’ specifications and their value for money, accusing the supplier of attempting to “treat the military like an ATM.”
Though the drones were intended primarily for training, the source warned that such equipment could eventually have battlefield applications.
Critical components such as chips and flight-control boards therefore “absolutely cannot pass through Chinese hands,” the source said, warning that allowing Chinese components into military systems would be tantamount to planting a ticking “time bomb” within Taiwan’s national security apparatus.
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