Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) took the stage at the "Maritime Defense Unmanned Trends Forum" on April 7 with a clear message: Taiwan must take charge of its own defense.
With cross-strait military pressure continuing to rise, Chen urged the island to double down on its naval capabilities rather than retreat into passivity.
Retired U.S. Navy Rear AdmiralMark Montgomery was equally direct. Taiwan's military interoperability with the United States, he warned, is the lowest among all of Washington's Asian operational partners — and if that gap isn't closed soon, the consequences in a conflict could be severe.
Montgomery added a pointed political warning: if Taiwan fails to raise its defense budget, President Trump will respond punitively, and Taiwan will lose a reliable American partner.
The forum was co-organized by Chen's congressional office, the United Pacific Innovation Alliance (UPIA), and the Taiwan NextGen Foundation. It brought together U.S. defense policy experts, unmanned systems technology companies, and investors to engage with Taiwan's government and industry on maritime security, unmanned systems integration, and supply chain resilience.
The agenda centered on three areas: how unmanned systems are reshaping defense postures in the Taiwan Strait, the challenges of systems integration in high-intensity environments, and how to build resilient allied supply chains for scalable production and deployment of critical capabilities.
Chen: "Be the Master of Your Own Destiny"
Recent CNN reporting on cross-strait tensions has fueled growing discussions about emigration and capital flight among Taiwan's wealthy. Chen was unmoved.
"Rather than being a guest in someone else's country," he said, "it is better to be the master of your own destiny."
Chen said Taiwan is building multi-domain denial capabilities centered on asymmetric warfare and resilient defense, with maritime unmanned systems as a central pillar of that strategy.
He argued that a stronger maritime defense is also essential to preventing miscalculation by Beijing. China, he said, faces a fundamental choice: pursue global power status through cooperation, or pursue military action against Taiwan — but not both.
One road leads to strength, the other to decline.
Taiwan, Chen added, stands ready to serve as a responsible Indo-Pacific partner, building a more resilient defense through domestic capability development and international cooperation.
Montgomery: Trump Will Judge Taiwan as a Whole — Defense Spending Must Rise
Montgomery, who also serves as Director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, laid out several blunt warnings at the forum.
Taiwan, he said, must address two distinct threat environments at once: low-cost, high-volume unmanned systems in the Taiwan Strait, and sophisticated equipment to counter advanced threats along its eastern coast. Both requirements justify sustained increases in defense spending.
On the political front, Montgomery was equally blunt. Trump, he said, will not distinguish between the Kuomintang and the DPP. What matters is whether Taiwan as a whole demonstrates a credible commitment to self-defense.
If it doesn't, Trump will respond punitively — and Taiwan will forfeit a reliable American partner in the process.
Montgomery also flagged the interoperability gap as an urgent operational risk. Failure to close it promptly, he warned, could prove costly in any conflict scenario.
On a more constructive note, he said Taiwan has a unique opportunity to build a "non-red supply chain" — one free of Chinese components — through cooperation with U.S. companies. It is a strategic advantage, he added, that no other country can replicate.
Chen to KMT: Stop Blocking the Defense Budget
Responding to Montgomery's remarks, Chen called on the KMT legislative caucus whip to heed the forum's warnings.
Opposition parties are currently working to block a special defense budget bill that includes approximately USD 3.1 billion earmarked for unmanned platforms.
"If we don't act today, we will suffer tomorrow," Chen said. He added that it was difficult to comprehend why opposition legislators continue to obstruct defense spending even as American experts issue explicit warnings.
Chen also highlighted Taiwan's push to expand defense industry cooperation. An aerospace park in Chiayi dedicated to unmanned platforms is expected to open in August, and Chen welcomed U.S. companies to establish joint ventures there to help scale Taiwan's unmanned systems production capacity.
