President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday lauded the nation’s indigenous shipbuilding program as the Coast Guard Administration took delivery of a new missile corvette and a new patrol vessel at a ceremony in Kaohsiung.
Tsai said at the ceremony that the government would continue to enhance the nation’s shipbuilding capabilities as part of its efforts to bolster national defenses.
The addition of the new vessels showcases the nation’s determination to defend its territorial waters, she said, highlighting the increasing occurrence of Chinese dredgers trespassing into Taiwanese waters to extract sand from areas near the Matsu Islands.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
“Such acts will never be tolerated,” Tsai said, adding that the coast guard would not be lenient when it comes to protecting the nation’s territorial waters.
Built by Kaohsiung-based Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Corp (中信造船集團), the new vessels are the CG-601 Anping (安平) corvette and a fast patrol vessel.
The Anping is a modified version of the navy’s Tuo Jiang-class corvette, which is capable of traveling at more than 44 knots (81kph), the coast guard said.
Photo: CNA
As well as patrolling the nation’s territorial waters to intercept smugglers and chase away trespassing Chinese vessels, it is also able to conduct rescue missions, it said.
Besides being equipped with a water cannon that has a maximum range of 120m, the Anping is also armed with high-explosive rockets and a 20mm cannon, it added.
Coast Guard Administration Fleet Branch head Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said that the vessel is also capable of carrying the Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missile system and the Hsiung Feng III medium-range supersonic missile, both developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
The coast guard is coordinating with the navy on a plan to train personnel on the two missile systems, Hsieh said.
The armaments could be used in times of conflict, the coast guard said, adding that they would not be deployed during regular maritime patrols.
While in Kaohsiung, Tsai christened another corvette, the Chengkung (成功), before it began sea trials.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
RSS