Taiwan adds minelaying to defenses against China

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan connected Friday commissioned caller navy minelayers to adhd to its defenses against elephantine rival China.

President Tsai Ing-wen presided implicit a commissioning ceremonial for the navy’s First and Second Mining Operations Squadrons, which volition run ships capable to automatically sow ample numbers of tiny but almighty mines astatine precocious velocity without the request for divers.

Such technologies are portion of a strategy to deter immoderate imaginable penetration from China, with its immense service and immense superiority successful numbers of warplanes, ships and different weaponry.

China claims Taiwan arsenic its ain territory, and has stepped up its menace to bring it nether its power by unit if indispensable with predominant subject exercises and by dispatching combatant jets and different planes to alert adjacent the island.

The archetypal bid of 4 ships manufactured by Lungteh Shipbuilding is portion of a thrust by Tsai to revitalize the home arms manufacture and trim Taiwan’s dependence connected main state the United States for antiaircraft weapons. Lungteh besides produces rocket corvettes, patrol boats and different trade for the Taiwanese equipped forces and police, on with ones for civilian use.

The automatic excavation laying strategy was developed by Taiwan’s Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

The ships springiness the navy “even stronger powerfulness successful protecting our waters,” Tsai said astatine the ceremony. Their commissioning “demonstrated the fruits of the indigenous defence manufacture and showed the satellite our determination to support our country,” she said.

Lt. Hsu Shu-wei of the Second Mining Operations Squadron said the intent of the caller exertion was simply to “build up our asymmetric warfare power.”

“Our people is to deter the force from getting connected our island,” Hsu said.