Vice President Hsiao Witnesses Drone Donation to Enhance Palau's Disaster Prevention and Rescue Resilience

(Central News Agency, Koror, Palau, June 8) On the third day of her visit to Palau, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, together with Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr., witnessed the donation ceremony and demonstration of Taiwanese multi-functional drones. Vice President Hsiao stated that she hopes to assist Palau in strengthening its medical supply transport, maritime search and rescue, and disaster prevention response capabilities through technological cooperation, thereby enhancing overall rescue resilience.

Vice President Hsiao led a delegation to visit the allied nation of Palau. To help Palau improve its digital technology application capabilities and resilience, she and President Whipps jointly witnessed the drone donation ceremony and demonstration.

Vice President Hsiao said in an interview that drones have many emerging functions. In Taiwan, they can be used for disaster prevention, logistics in remote areas, and post-disaster communication resilience.

She noted that drones are an emerging industry in Taiwan, which has grown significantly and seen technological advancements in recent years. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a special drone diplomacy team and will also set up a training center to help train drone pilots for allied nations in the future.

The Vice President mentioned that this demonstration can assist Palau in various future drone applications. As the industry progresses, Taiwan's drones also need more support from the public and the Legislative Yuan for defense applications. The government hopes to demonstrate Taiwan's capabilities in the civilian sector. This is a starting point, and cooperation with allied nations will continue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to make long-term plans and cooperate with different allies based on their local conditions and needs.

Expert Chou Kai-yuan said in an interview that the demonstrated drone possesses diverse operational capabilities. Besides serving initial training purposes to help local personnel master flight techniques, the drone model can carry emergency medical supplies for delivery to different locations, solving transport challenges in remote areas or between islands. Furthermore, given Palau's vast territorial waters, the drone can also be equipped with a lifebuoy to perform emergency maritime search and rescue missions.

Chou stated that during actual operations, the drone can be remotely controlled by the pilot via a video link, enabling "beyond visual line of sight" flight missions to accurately deliver supplies to designated locations for landing or airdrop. This is why this multi-functional drone was donated to Palau.

He explained that this drone can carry a payload of 3.5 kilograms. Within this weight range, it can be used or modified for different purposes. If modified for camera use, the drone's communication range can reach 2 kilometers, including remote control data and image transmission.

He said that drones typically have an operating environment, and the batteries are replaceable. This donation includes one drone configured with multiple sets of replacement batteries. To continue using it, one simply swaps the battery to resume flying immediately.

When asked if the drone would lose power during extended sea missions, Chou said the drone flies faster than a boat and faces less air resistance. For a distance of 2 kilometers, the drone can fly over and land directly to deliver medical supplies to the destination. The drone's single-set battery flight time is approximately 15 minutes.

He stated that the currently demonstrated model is primarily for "initial training purposes," with the focus on allowing local personnel to become familiar with the operation and usage habits. Future applications will be coordinated with other mission-specific models based on actual needs. This project involves the donation of a total of 4 drones, aiming to substantially enhance Palau's disaster prevention and medical service resilience through technological assistance. (Editor: Xie Jiazhen) 1150608