Chinese submarine raises concern over security data

Taiwan should not have to rely on information from the US and Japan to detect China's submarines in its territorial waters, military experts said yesterday in response to the incident in which a Chinese vessel broke down near the Pratas (Tungsha) Islands on Thursday.

They said that the Taiwanese navy currently cannot patrol the area in which the incident occurred because of its limited resources, which is why the government should not waste time in buying the advanced P3C submarine-hunting aircraft.

Ministry of National Defense (MND) officials told Chinese-language newspapers on Tuesday that the area in which China's Type 035 Ming-class submarine broke down is outside the navy's reconnaissance area, and that they had been informed of the incident by the US.

According to an article by retired vice admiral Lan Ning-li (蘭寧利) in a local Chinese-language daily yesterday, the waters around the Pratas Islands have strategic significance for Taiwan.

"The submarines of Beijing's South China Sea fleet must pass the Pratas Islands to enter the waters southwest of Taiwan or to enter the Pacific Ocean through the Bashi Strait," Lan said in the article.

The article said Taiwan's military has been unable to patrol the waters near the Pratas Islands, which are about 555km to 9925km from Taiwan.

Lan said that only sustained patrols by advanced anti-submarine aircraft such as the P3C can detect China's submarines when they are underwater.

Although the US patrols the area with P3Cs, Taiwan's defense security should not rely entirely on information from the US, he said.

The nation's combat units would have more time to respond to movements by China's submarines if Taiwan had its own sources of information about the area, Lan said.

He added that China could fire submarine-launched cruise missiles at Taiwan from the waters around the Pratas Islands.

The country needs to swiftly establish its P3C force, but the Ministry of National Defense has failed to make it clear to the public why the country needs the aircraft, Lan said.

Ou Si-fu (歐錫富), a researcher at the Institute for National Policy Research, said that the military's current force of S2T aircraft might not be able to detect some of China's more advanced vessels, such as Kilo-class submarines, which is why the military needs to establish an advanced anti-submarine force.

However, some officials have argued that the P3Cs would be unable to carry out missions during wartime unless the air force has the ability to dominate the nation's airspace, Ou said.

Liao Wen-chung (廖文中), a research fellow at the Atlantic Council of the US, said that the Pratas Islands are surrounded by strategic water lanes used by East-Asian countries, and that China is increasing its ability to blockade these lanes.

He said that Taiwan's military has been unable to detect China's submarines since they were equipped with new C4ISR systems recent years.

"The military has been relying on the US and Japan for information on the movements of China's submarines," Liao said.

Andrew Yang (楊念祖), the secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, yesterday told Chinese-language newspapers that Taiwan is facing a more aggressive and advanced Chinese submarine force, and that the nation needs to swiftly build up its P3C aircraft and submarine forces.