A public plea to US President Barack Obama to help Taiwan build its own submarines is being made by one of Washington’s best-known and most respected experts on China’s military development.
“Taiwan would like help acquiring additional design consulting and sub-systems from the United States or potential European suppliers,” said Richard Fisher, senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
The plea, published by the conservative Washington Times, said that the help could also include combat systems, sonar systems, periscopes and weapons.
“By any consideration, Taiwan seeks a modest submarine fleet to provide a deterrent force,” Fisher said.
It is not meant to go sub-to-sub with the 65 to 73 diesel and nuclear-powered subs China may have by 2020, he added.
Still, four to eight submarines could complicate China’s real goal of amassing an amphibious military force sufficient to invade Taiwan, Fisher said.
Fisher said that China’s invasion plans envision using up to 12 new, large naval amphibious-assault ships and scores of new, very large civilian roll-on, roll-off ferries.
Taiwan’s submarines could effectively threaten these ships and force China to reconsider future invasion plans, Fisher said.
Providing Taiwan with the means to deter Chinese attack and to buy sufficient time to achieve a mutually acceptable peace with China has been a goal of US policy on Taiwan since the early 1950s. Unfortunately, this could take some time, for Beijing is unlikely to agree to any peace that allows Taiwan’s vibrant democracy to thrive, he said.
Supporting Taiwan’s ability to defend its freedom, advances immediate US interests in opposing Chinese aggression and defending a maritime balance of power favorable to the US and its Asian allies, Fisher said.
Also, China could quickly turn Taiwan into a military base for missile, air and naval forces that would threaten US allies Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.
Fisher said that for two years Obama has advocated finding Taiwan appropriate “asymmetric” weapons to offset China’s growing conventional military superiority.
“Helping Taiwan to achieve indigenous production of submarines would be consistent with this goal,” Fisher said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS