The incoming Taiwanese president's best strategy to stop China from seizing the self-ruled island will likely be to bolster an agile defensive "porcupine" approach by spending more on missiles and drones.
Lessons learned from Russia's war in Ukraine about how rapidly developing drones can outfox traditional heavy weaponry suggest that Lai Ching-te will boost Taiwan's production of modern military technology after he takes over as president on Monday.
"Taiwan is taking the Chinese military threat more seriously," said Raymond Kuo, Taiwan Policy Initiative director at RAND Corp.