Taipei City acquired a robot dog for patrolling and maintenance inspections, introduced by deputy mayor Hammer Lee as equipped with an optical panoramic survey system capable of 360-degree images, facility location and automatic missing-item reports. An opposition councillor, Chien Shu-pei, identified the robot as made by Unitree, a Hangzhou-based robotics startup whose machines have appeared in official Chinese events and been described by a US congressional committee as dual-use technology. Chien warned the purchase risked information and national security. The council said one Unitree unit was bought via a subcontractor, fitted with a Taiwan-made camera system from Supratech, and that security concerns will be prioritised before further action.
Unitree's humanoid robots have appeared in the official lunar new year gala and at the recent humanoid robot games in Beijing, and its founder and CEO, Xingxing Wang, has met China's leader, Xi Jinping. Earlier this year a US congressional committee said Unitree's robots were dual use tech, marketed as civilian but also used in Chinese military drills and police operations.
Chien said the council's procurement of a Unitree robot dog had crossed the red line of information and national security. [This] is no different from sending a Chinese Trojan horse into the daily lives of citizens in Taipei City, Chien wrote on Facebook.
In a statement, the council's new works division said it had bought only one robot, via a subcontractor, as a trial for maintenance inspections, and that while it was made by Unitree in China, the camera system was developed by the Taiwanese contractor Supratech. The statement said the new works division would prioritise clearing the security concerns before any further step is taken.
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