Taiwan-Japan Ties & Security: President Lai met a joint delegation from Japan’s Forum for Strategic Studies and Taipei’s Formosa Republican Association, condoling over Japan’s Kumamoto earthquake and pushing trilateral cooperation on trade, high-tech, and social resilience amid authoritarian pressure. Cross-Strait Deterrence: Taiwan’s Cabinet is set to propose a record 2027 defense budget above NT$1.1T (about +16%), keeping spending above 3% of GDP and leaning on asymmetric tools like drones and mobile coastal defenses. Runway Survival Drills: Han Kuang exercises included rapid runway repair at Hsinchu’s airbase—rearming fighters, clearing craters, and deploying protective mats and air-defense systems near mainland China. Drone “David vs Goliath”: Taiwan is scaling drone production after studying Ukraine’s battlefield lessons, aiming for mass output and building a Coastal Combat Command to counter blockade and invasion scenarios. AI & Semiconductors in the News: Sony and TSMC plan about ¥1T ($6.3B) for next-gen image-sensor microchips in Kumamoto, targeting commercial production as early as 2029; meanwhile, VSO Electronics is expanding in Vietnam but flags memory bottlenecks for AI-server demand. Critical Infrastructure Watch: Taiwan’s Coast Guard warned a Chinese research vessel loitering over the Pacific Light Cable Network; a new ANU report also warns Indo-Pacific submarine cables face rising state and non-state attack risks and need faster repair readiness. Health & Biotech: HanchorBio and NTU’s TCMP subteam led by Prof. Sung-Liang Yu signed an MOU to accelerate biomarker-driven precision oncology using multi-omics and HanchorBio’s Fc-based designer biologics platform. Diplomacy with Tech-Adjacent Focus: St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ PM Godwin Friday is visiting Taiwan for 45 years of ties, with an economic agenda spanning agriculture, the blue economy, technology, and sustainable development.