TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) founder and former chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) was cited on Wednesday (Sept. 21) as stating that he will fund the development of one million attack drones to bolster Taiwan's defenses.

In August, Tsao announced that he will donate US$100 million (NT$3 billion) to strengthen Taiwan's defenses amid increasingly aggressive military maneuvers by China. In an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday, Tsao stated that he is approaching Taiwanese unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturers to quickly produce one million military drones.

The tech tycoon said that he will first invest US$30 million to provide tactical training to hundreds of thousands of civilians. In addition, Tsao revealed that he is in talks with Taiwanese UAV makers to form an industrial alliance to rapidly manufacture one million low-cost "attack drones."

Indicating Tsao's planned use of the drones, he said "If the Chinese Communists want to bring their troops ashore and a fleet of ships comes over the Strait, we can assault them." Tsao disagreed with naysayers who claimed his efforts were insignificant and too late, "Although it is very urgent, we still have a little time," and called on an optimistic attitude toward the situation.

Tsao also said that his goal is to quickly ensure that in a short period of two to three years, no one in Taiwan would be afraid of war and all would have the will to resist. He believes that it is possible for Taiwan to survive repeated bombings and missile attacks, as long as it can prevent People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops from landing on Taiwanese soil.

The tycoon advocated that everyone must be trained to be "mentally very strong." He pointed out that even at the height of Nazi Germany's bombing of British cities during World War II, the people's morale "remained high."