European countries helping with Taiwan’s submarine project, Taipei says
- Assistance ‘provided by important countries in Europe and the United States’, island’s defence ministry says
- European countries are generally wary of allowing arms sales to Taiwan due to fears of angering Beijing
Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of its sovereign territory, has worked for years to revamp its submarine force, some of which dates back to World War II. It is no match for mainland China’s fleet, which includes vessels capable of launching nuclear weapons.
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In a statement on Friday, Taiwan’s defence ministry denied a report in US international affairs magazine The National Interest, which cited Taiwanese news reports from 2019, that North Korea had discussed helping Taiwan with the submarines.
European countries are generally wary of allowing arms sales to Taiwan due to fears of angering Beijing, though in 2018 Taiwan said it was talking to a company based in the British territory of Gibraltar about the new submarine fleet’s design.
Two of Taiwan’s four active submarines were built in the Netherlands in the 1980s, though the country subsequently refused to sell further ones to the island.