The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday confirmed that a Chinese Type 072A landing ship, a large tank carrier used for amphibious warfare, was spotted off northern Taiwan.
Local media reported that a plane passenger spotted the Chinese amphibious warship shortly before landing at Taipei International Airport (Songshan) on Friday.
The passenger took a photo of the vessel and later identified it as a Type 072A landing ship using its coordinates. The ship was about 60 nautical miles (111km) from the coast of Keelung.
Photo courtesy of Lin Yu-feng
The passenger said that no other ships were shadowing the Chinese vessel at the time.
The Type 072A has a displacement of 3,770 tonnes and is capable of carrying two medium helicopters and four landing craft.
The ship can carry up to 10 tanks and 250 fully armed troops, posing a significant threat to Taiwan, former Air Force Institute of Technology officer Lin Yu-feng (林延鳳) said.
Typically, Type 072A landing ships are seen off Taiwan’s east coast, making Friday’s sighting potentially a first, he said.
If troops from the ship were to land in northern Taiwan, it would pose a threat to several critical military sites, including the MND and the Joint Operations Command Center in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area, Lin said.
Navy Chief of Staff Chiu Chun-jung (邱俊榮) said the navy closely monitored the Chinese vessel operating in waters north of Taiwan, using the military’s joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
However, the ministry did not issue a specific statement identifying the ship as a Type 072A, instead categorizing it along with five other Chinese warships detected in the area, as indicated on a map released the following day.
The ministry typically refrains from identifying specific types of Chinese warships or aircraft operating near Taiwan to avoid causing unnecessary alarm among the public.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the ministry’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the navy generally dispatches vessels to shadow Chinese ships operating near Taiwan’s contiguous zone — a 24-nautical-mile area off its shores — or when a larger Chinese fleet is detected, rather than scrambling warships every time a threat approaches.
This helps prevent “wearing down” Taiwan’s defenses, he said.
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