TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A military expert on Wednesday warned that a proposed robot patrol dog could leak data to China that would be useful for an invasion.
On Tuesday, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) introduced what he dubbed Taipei's “new inspection partner,” which can survey sidewalks and transmit data to support a “smart, sustainable city,” per CNA. However, DPP City Councilor Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said Wednesday the purpose of the robot dog was not to maintain sidewalks but to “collect all road data and report it to the Taipei City Government."
She said that the New Construction Office informed her that, since the vendor first proposed the sale, they had been aware that the robot dog was made in China. She identified the manufacturer as the Chinese company Unitree Robotics, adding that the US House Select Committee on China had warned in May of pre-installed hidden backdoors in the firm's quadruped robots, which connect to Chinese servers.
Yen said that at her request, the device has been completely taken out of use. The NCO said the robot dogs were provided by a contractor and only as part of a trial, not for formal deployment.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) said Wednesday that the NCO initially claimed that the robots were made by Boston Dynamics. When she questioned the office further, it conceded the robot's body was made in China by Unitree, but the panoramic inspection system and remote control software were developed by a Taiwanese team.
Military expert Wang Cheng-ming (王臻明) said that a pair of Chinese spies, a father and son surnamed Huang (黃), previously used a mapping device provided by China to collect detailed data on key roads in Taiwan, likely for use in war games or invasion planning, per Liberty Times. He cautioned that the mapping capabilities of Taipei’s robot dogs could pose an even more serious threat than those of the mapping device.
He pointed out that since the robot dogs adopted by Taipei appear to be a Chinese product, authorities must consider the national security implications. Incidents of Chinese technology containing backdoors are frequent, he said, adding that Taiwan should be wary of similar risks.
Wang argued that there are already many mature alternatives internationally, while several Taiwanese universities are also conducting related research. If Taipei could cooperate with local universities to foster domestic industry, it would be far more beneficial, he said.
Wang said many streets in Taiwan are very narrow, while the western plains are divided by rivers and canals, requiring many bridges to cross. Whether large armored vehicles or self-propelled artillery can safely cross these routes is a crucial question for would-be invaders.
Such detailed measurements are exactly what China seeks but cannot obtain through satellites or ordinary photographs, he warned. This is why Chinese intelligence operatives use mapping devices, and Taiwan must remain vigilant to avoid providing Beijing any information it could exploit.
