The prototype ship held a “naming and launching ceremony” at Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation’s Kaohsiung plant on Thursday morning. This prototype ship is named “Hai Kun Warship” and has the hull number “711”. Compared with the cross rudders of the Navy’s four existing submarines, Hai Kun has an X-shaped stern rudder. Zheng Wenlong, chairman of Taiwan Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, said, “The performance is definitely better than that of existing submarines.”
In her speech, Tsai Ing-wen said that in the past, the domestic production of submarines was considered an impossible task, but the submarines built in Taiwan are right in front of us. “Everyone, we have done it.” Submarines are a concrete practice of resolutely defending Taiwan, and even more The navy’s development of important strategic and tactical equipment for asymmetric combat power also marks a new milestone for national defense independence.
According to a previous report by Taiwan’s “Central News Agency”, this Taiwan-made submarine prototype cost 11.1 billion yuan (NT$49.3 billion) to build.
Taiwan’s National Security Council Advisory Committee member Huang Shuguang said recently that “the first submarine is very cautious, safety is the first priority, and there is no timetable.” He hopes that the submarine will be delivered to Taiwan’s navy before the end of next year. Taiwan’s first homemade submarine is diesel-electric powered and equipped with 18 MK-48 torpedoes. Taiwan’s establishment of a submarine force can prevent the Communist army from crossing the first island chain in the Western Pacific and prevent the Chinese Communist Party from encircling Taiwan on all sides. Huang Shuguang emphasized that the purpose of independently building submarines is to protect Taiwan’s offshore waters, not to attack.
The Taiwan authorities launched a self-built submarine project as early as 2016 to add eight new submarines to its old fleet of four submarines. Two of Taiwan’s four submarines date back to World War II and are mainly used for training, while the other two were built by the Netherlands in the late 1980s and are currently in service. Due to pressure from Beijing, Taiwan has been unable to find a country willing to sell submarines to it.
On Thursday, Chinese Communist Party spokesman Mao Ning reacted strongly when responding to questions about Taiwan’s first “self-made submarine” and once again emphasized that Taiwan is part of China’s territory.
In addition, Vladimir Zakharov, a Russian diplomat and lecturer at the National Research University of Economics, said in an interview with Sputnik News that Taiwan’s submarine construction plan with US assistance is entirely possible to be completed on time. It is easy to predict that the military and political confrontation between Beijing and the United States will escalate, mainly because the US Republicans and Democrats have consistent policies towards China.
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2023-09-28 14:25:48
