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Taiwan bolsters defences with minelaying ships
- New vessels designed to lay small, powerful mines at high speed
- Technology part of efforts to fend off attack from the mainland
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Taiwan on Friday commissioned new navy minelayers to add to its defences against mainland China.
President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a commissioning ceremony for the navy’s First and Second Mining Operations Squadrons, which will operate ships able to automatically sow large numbers of small but powerful mines at high speed without the need for divers.
Such technologies are part of a strategy to deter any possible invasion from the mainland, with its huge army and vast superiority in numbers of warplanes, ships and other weaponry.
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Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory, and has stepped up its threat to bring it under its control by force if necessary with frequent military exercises and by dispatching fighter jets and other planes to fly near the island.
The initial order of four ships manufactured by Lungteh Shipbuilding is part of a drive by Tsai to revitalise the domestic arms industry and reduce Taiwan’s dependence on chief ally the United States for defensive weapons.
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Lungteh also produces missile corvettes, patrol boats and other craft for the Taiwanese armed forces and police, along with ones for civilian use.
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