The nation’s first domestically made submarine, named the Hai Kun (海鯤), or “Narwhal,” had its commissioning ceremony at shipbuilder CSBC Corp’s Kaohsiung dockyard last week.
As the first indigenous defense submarine prototype, it still requires many modifications and final testing.
However, information leaks and corruption allegations surrounding the program have been making news headlines, causing furor and confusion among the general public. The Ministry of National Defense and prosecutors should quickly get to the bottom of the matter.
On another note, pro-China supporters, political commentators and retired generals have been prattling on political talk shows about their opposition to the submarine program, such as how Taiwan’s peripheral oceanic geography is unsuitable for large submarines since the Taiwan Strait, with an area of 80,000km2 and shallow depths, is only suited for small submarine activity, but not for large ones. Satellites would also reveal the whereabouts of submarines around the Taiwan Strait, they said.
Various fear mongering narratives have brushed aside the fact that submarines are an extension of national defense, not to mention they could launch torpedoes and missiles to deter scorched-earth attacks by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army against Taiwan proper.
If war were ever to erupt between China and Taiwan, it would be totally different in nature from the land warfare taking place in Ukraine. Once maritime and air traffic are blocked, supplies from other countries would be cut off. Therefore, submarine ordinance would be better stored in friendly neighboring countries.
In the event of a war, military submarines could land at foreign docks for resupply and not lose combat power due to a surface-level blockade of military aid. The US’ Taiwan Relations Act and US President Joe Biden’s promise to defend Taiwan, along with the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the US and Japan, should be able to ensure the realization of this deployment.
As Taiwan prepares for asymmetric warfare in the face of Chinese threats, modern submarines play a significant role in defending Taiwan and thereby should never be vilified nor tarnished.
Fang Ping-sheng is a former major in the Republic of China Marine Corps.
Translated by Rita Wang
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
The central bank has launched a redesign of the New Taiwan dollar banknotes, prompting questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — “Are we not promoting digital payments? Why spend NT$5 billion on a redesign?” Many assume that cash will disappear in the digital age, but they forget that it represents the ultimate trust in the system. Banknotes do not become obsolete, they do not crash, they cannot be frozen and they leave no record of transactions. They remain the cleanest means of exchange in a free society. In a fully digitized world, every purchase, donation and action leaves behind data.
RSS