The tiny "stealth" Carbon Voyager 1, fast-moving Black Tide I, and explosives-carrying Sea Shark 800 were the highlight of an expo for companies vying to help Taiwan build up a maritime drone force. Taipei believes drones could be pivotal in repelling China in the event its forces attempt to invade the self-ruled island, which Beijing has threatened to annex by force if necessary. Su'ao is just 60km (37 miles) from Fulong, one of the so-called "red beaches" identified by defence experts as potential landing sites for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) due to their unique topography. Whereas Russia sent tanks across land borders to launch its war on Ukraine in 2022, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would involve Beijing sending vessels across the 180-km- (112-mile-)wide Taiwan Strait. While the Taiwan Strait's choppy waters and Taiwan's mountainous geography and shallow beaches pose formidable challenges to an amphibious invasion, technological advances and a decades-long modernisation campaign by the PLA have steadily chipped away at the island's natural defences.

It has become conventional wisdom among the halls of the United States government that China will launch a full-scale invasion of Taiwan within the next few years. And when that happens, the US military has a relatively straightforward response in mind: Unleash hell. Speaking to The Washington Post on the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies' annual Shangri-La Dialogue in June, US Indo-Pacific Command chief Navy Admiral Samuel Paparo colorfully described the US military's contingency plan for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan as flooding the narrow Taiwan Strait between the two countries with swarms of thousands upon thousands of drones, by land, sea, and air, to delay a Chinese attack enough for the US and its allies to muster additional military assets in the region. "I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities," Paparo said, "so that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything." Cheap, easily weaponizable drones have transformed battlefields from Ukraine to the Middle East in recent years, and the US military is rapidly adapting to this new uncrewed future.

Lu, who wears a black T-shirt and glasses, pulls a bag out from under his scooter seat then heads down to the beach. "Oh!" exclaims the 43-year-old once making it down to the shore. Lu bends down to pick up a worn plastic bottle that has washed up beside his foot and puts it in his bag. "Wet Chinese plastic," he says flatly. He points to the simplified Chinese characters on the packaging indicating the bottle's origin – mainland China. Lu is not at the beach to stroll among the rusty anti-landing spikes protruding from concrete blocks – a reminder of Kinmen's role as a front-line island between China and Taiwan. Nor has he come to marvel at the lights that now glitter in the dusk from the skyscrapers of the Chinese metropolis of Xiamen, less than 10km (6.2 miles) away across Xiamen Bay. Instead, he has come to the western coast of Kinmen to collect rubbish. When Lu is not working as an administrator at a local tourism office, he contributes to keeping Kinmen clean by picking up rubbish. Tides, weather and ocean currents as well as Kinmen's proximity to Xiamen and the mouth of the polluted Jiulong River in China have left the island exposed to large quantities of waste.

Japan plans to revise its Medium Term Defense Program earlier than originally scheduled as it looks to boost spending to counter China's growing assertiveness in surrounding waters and prepare for contingencies in the Taiwan Strait, government sources said Friday. The program, which covers the five years through fiscal 2023, could be updated within the year, with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi having agreed earlier this month that some changes are necessary, the sources said. Discussions between officials including at the Defense Ministry and the National Security Secretariat are already underway, with budget issues set to be reviewed by the Finance Ministry. The revision would seek to fulfill Suga's promise to U.S. President Joe Biden during their meeting in Washington in April that Japan would bolster its defense capabilities to strengthen the alliance between their countries and maintain security in the Indo-Pacific region. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the leaders singled out China for actions that are "inconsistent with the international rules-based order, including the use of economic and other forms of coercion."

For the first time this year, the United States has sent two warships through the strategic Taiwan Strait, according to the Taiwanese government. The move risks further heightening tensions with China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control. It is also likely to be viewed in Taiwan as a sign of support from US President Donald Trump's administration amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing. Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement late on Thursday the US ships were moving in a northerly direction and that their voyage was in accordance with regulations. It added that Taiwan closely monitored the operation to "ensure the security of the seas and regional stability".