Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Tuesday appeared to confirm, but declined to give details regarding a reported sighting of a Chinese submarine near the median line of the Taiwan Strait earlier that morning.
Local media reported that a fisher from Penghu County at about 5am suddenly saw a submarine surface nearby while sailing near the median line of the Strait.
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval ship came over to assist the submarine with an apparent problem, and escorted the vessel back toward China, the fisher said.
Photo courtesy of a Penghu County fisher
Military intelligence has an understanding of the situation, Koo told reporters before a meeting at the legislature.
Asked about the submarine type and mission, he replied that the “details are to remain classified for now.”
Asked whether the submarine surfaced due to a malfunction or to test Taiwan’s defenses like a similar situation from last year, Koo said that he would need to familiarize himself with the previous incident before answering.
Judging from photographs taken by the fisher, online military enthusiasts believe the vessel to be a Type 094 nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
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