Top Stories

Taiwan’s leader launches production of submarines

The Associated Press

Taiwan’s president inaugurated the production of domestically made submarines in the southern city of Kaohsiung, in a step forward for the island’s defense strategy at a time of elevated tensions with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

“This submarine is an important part of allowing our Navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan’s main island,” President Tsai Ing-wen, pictured, said November 24, 2020. “Now, with the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty.”

Tsai has made boosting Taiwan’s indigenous defense capacity a central pillar of her defense policy. Recently, she relaunched the military aviation industry with the production of trainer jets and has pushed for the development of more sophisticated systems by utilizing the island’s high-tech industries.

At the same time, she has gained approval from the United States for the purchase of billions of dollars in weapons, including upgraded F-16 fighter jets, armed drones, rocket systems and Harpoon missiles capable of hitting ships and land targets.

The PRC regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has been upping its threats to bring the island under control by force. It has sent fighter jets and reconnaissance planes almost daily toward the island of 24 million people, which lies 160 kilometers off China’s southeast coast across the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan turned to building its own submarines after Beijing prevented it from purchasing such craft in recent years through the use of economic and diplomatic threats.

CSBC Corp., which is Taiwan’s largest shipbuilder and is partially government owned, was awarded a contract in 2017 to design and build the subs in partnership with arms developer National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

Plans call for eight submarines at an estimated cost of more than U.S. $16 billion, with the first to be completed by 2024.

“Walking on this path that historically the government has never taken before, there were all kinds of challenges, and we were met with all sorts of doubts, but challenges and doubts won’t defeat us,” Tsai said.

Although Washington has no formal relations with the island’s democratically elected government, it remains its main ally, and U.S. law requires the government to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself. Weapons sales to the island have increased in quantity and quality in recent years.

Facing a potential Chinese foe with overwhelming numbers of missiles, soldiers, ships and planes, Taiwan has sought to assure its citizens, as well as the U.S., that it is capable of and willing to defend itself.

Much of Taiwan’s ground force consists of short-term conscripts, and its fleet numbers about 86 vessels, roughly half of them missile boats for coastal patrol. Taiwan’s Navy has two combat-ready submarines, versions of the Zwaardvis-class subs purchased from the Netherlands in the 1980s.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button