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Taipei City council in the doghouse for using Chinese-made robot to patrol city's streets
The Guardian
|August 29, 2025
Taipei City council has come under fire after admitting that a robot dog it bought to help patrol city streets using surveillance cameras was made by a Chinese company linked to the Chinese military.
Lee Shu-chuan, the deputy mayor of Taiwan's capital, introduced a "new patrol partner" for the management and repair of pedestrian areas in a post on Facebook on Tuesday.
"This robot, equipped with an optical panoramic survey system, can create 360-degree images, accurately locate facilities, and even automatically report missing items," Lee said, noting its ability to "accumulate comprehensive data".
On Wednesday, an opposition councillor, Chien Shu-pei, said she had learned that the robot had been made by Unitree, a fast-growing robotics startup based in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
This story is from the August 29, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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