In July and August, Washington tightened restrictions on foreign-made advanced robotic systems and imposed steep tariffs on imported drones and their components, both moves citing national-security concerns. The drone tariffs take effect in September, with additional component tariffs following in 2027. These moves are part of a broader U.S. effort to restrict foreign technology in
TAIPEI — Phone in hand, the middle-aged woman gestured to the Taipei intersection, where an infantry platoon unloaded sandbags on the pedestrian crossings. “My Uber is waiting for me just there,” she said in Mandarin, pointing behind them. The bespectacled military policeman blocking her path with a T112 assault rifle apologized: She’d have to find
TAIPEI — In the dead of night, scores of masked military police moved a medley of defensive gear beneath flickering traffic lights and store signs. Hemmed in by rows of shophouses, they laid metal barricades, land mines, and sandbags along an intersection just a mile from Taiwan’s presidential office. Behind them, Clouded Leopard infantry fighting
TAIPEI — About a four-minute walk from the metro station, Taiwanese troops slipped into the Tamsui River on an American-made M3 amphibious bridging vehicle, dropping pontoons and clusters of barrels rigged to explode. On the shore, six retirees in gym slacks and tennis shoes were winding down their early morning Taichi, unaware that a group
This essay as told is based on a conversation with Vivienne Yang, a 31-year-old Taiwanese citizen who lost her job and had to leave the US due to her visa status, leaving behind her apartment and two cats. It has been edited for length and clarity. I started falling in love with the American dream
