Taiwan should develop asymmetric anti-access weapons to counter the burgeoning capabilities of Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said in its annual report on China.
The expansion of the PLAN’s capabilities and frequent activities by Chinese warships are part of Beijing’s strategy of exerting control over and isolating the Taiwan Strait, the Taipei-based institute said in the 2022 Report on the Development of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politics and Military, which was published last month.
The PLAN aircraft carrier Liaoning has transitioned from training in China’s near seas to conducting war games in the western Pacific, showing an intent to use the ship in containing US forces based in the region, it said.
Photo: Bobby Yip, Reuters
Meanwhile, other Chinese warships have moved beyond the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait to the seas between Taiwan and the Japanese island of Yonaguni, it said, adding that the PLAN has transited these waters in nine operations involving 13 ships.
These movements indicate that China is seeking to seize this part of the sea to sever an important line of communication while simultaneously containing Taiwanese and Japanese warships there, the institute said.
Taiwan will have to develop a strategy of multi-layered denial to prevail in a David versus Goliath conflict against superior Chinese forces, it said.
Sea denial requires the use of submarines, land-based and ship-based anti-ship missiles, missile boats and underwater suicide drones, it said.
Submarines — the best naval asymmetric weapons system — should mainly be deployed to the north and south of Taiwan proper to prevent penetration by the PLAN of the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait and supplement the resiliency of the nation’s air and land denial capabilities, it said.
The military is to receive a prototype of the indigenous submarine before 2025, batches of Hsiung Feng III/IIIE and Harpoon missiles this year through 2030 and 10 Tuo Chiang-class corvettes before 2026, while negotiations to procure US-made underwater suicide drones are ongoing, it said.
PLAN ships conducted 661 movements in the seas surrounding Taiwan from August to December last year, the report said.
Separately, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it detected three Chinese military vessels and 16 military aircraft in the seas and airspace surrounding Taiwan.
These include a Xian JH-7 fighter-bomber that crossed over the median line of the Taiwan Strait, and one BZK-007 drone and two J-16 jets that entered the southwestern air defense identification zone, it said.
Taiwan’s armed forces monitored the situation and tasked combat air patrol aircraft, navy vessels and land-based missile systems to respond to China’s actions, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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