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Taiwan launches new coastguard ship to bolster defences against attack from mainland China
- The stealth vessel can be equipped with ‘carrier-killer’ missiles in the event of conflict
- President Tsai Ing-wen has championed asymmetric warfare as best strategy for fighting invasion
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Taiwan commissioned the first of a new fleet of coastguard ships on Friday, an advanced catamaran that can be armed with missiles, as the island bolsters its defences in the face of what it sees as a growing threat from Beijing.
President Tsai Ing-wen has made military modernisation a priority for the island, which mainland China views as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Attending the commissioning of the domestically made, T$1 billion (US$37.3 million) Anping in the southern city of Kaohsiung, Tsai praised its “specific” ability of being usable in the event of conflict.
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“If necessary, it can be immediately be transformed into an important force for defence,” she said at the shipyard, where she also named the second ship to follow the Anping, the Chengkung.
“This also means that while the coastguard strengthens law enforcement, national defence forces will be strengthened too.”
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