TAIPEI - Taiwanese drone maker JC Technology Inc., which has been placed on mainland China's export control list, is seeking to market a drone-based air-defense system overseas, betting that equipment free of Chinese components will appeal to countries looking to secure their military supply chains.
The company, known as JC Tech, is working on what it calls a "small-scale" air-defense system that combines radar with low-cost drones designed to intercept incoming drones, its president, Robert Cheng, said in a recent interview with Kyodo News in Taipei.
The concept involves using large numbers of relatively inexpensive drones to counter incoming threats rather than costly missiles, Cheng said, adding that the system could be deployed to protect airports, government institutions, power plants and other critical infrastructure.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "people have realized that drones have become a major piece of equipment for both defense and attack and are extremely important," he said.
"Instead of spending millions of dollars, you can solve the problem for tens of thousands of dollars," Cheng said. "That is going to be the key going forward."
The company, founded in 2001, plans to develop sales channels primarily in Asia, the Middle East and the United States.
The manufacturer said it has held fundraising talks with Japanese institutional investors and plans to establish a company in Japan to produce drones locally.
In July 2025, China's Commerce Ministry placed JC Tech and seven other Taiwanese entities on an export control list, saying the measure was intended to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations, including those related to non-proliferation.
At that time, the Chinese ministry claimed the Taiwanese entities had deliberately collaborated with separatist forces to seek Taiwan's independence through military means. Beijing regards the self-ruled democratic island as a renegade province to be united with the mainland by force if necessary.
According to Cheng, inquiries about the company's products from countries around the world increased after Beijing's policy was announced. "China may actually have helped advertise us because of its restrictions. Because they put us under export control measures, hundreds of millions of people ended up seeing us," he said.
The Taiwanese government is also working to develop its drone industry, with the aim of establishing Taiwan as an Asia-Pacific hub for "democratic" drone supply chains that do not rely on components procured from mainland China, according to the island's Economy Ministry.
Cheng said JC Tech expects its overseas business, rather than the Taiwan market alone, to provide the scale needed to make its systems increasingly cost-competitive.
