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Taiwan’s president, struggling to convince parliament of the need for expensive weaponry improvements, said July 29 new submarines were essential for the island to defend itself from mainland China.
In an elaborate public relations exercise, President Chen Shui-bian took a group of journalists out on the navy’s Sea Tiger, a Dutch-built Sword Dragon-class submarine, off southern Taiwan to carry out routine drills.
The exercise was not part of ongoing war games in both China and Taiwan that have prompted the United States to call for restraint from both sides in order to avoid provoking already tense relations between the rivals.
“Submarines would be the best weaponry to defend Taiwan from attack... as they are able to launch a blitz and easy to hide,” Chen told reporters after wrapping up the unprecedented exercise.
Separately, the island’s military continued to hold a live-fire exercises in central Taiwan, with howitzers and cannons as well as Super Cobra attack helicopters firing on targets simulating an invasion.
The Taiwan government’s controversial 610 billion Taiwan dollar ($18.2 billion) budget includes a plan to buy eight U.S.-built submarines and new weaponry such as anti-missile Patriot systems and submarine-hunting P-3C aircraft over a 15-year period from 2005.
The deal is to go before parliament for approval towards the end of the year.
“Given the Chinese communists’ refusal to drop their military threat, sustaining sufficient self-defense capability is a must to safeguard the lives and freedom of our fellow countrymen,” President Chen said.
“Their (Chinese) continued efforts to hike military spending and missiles targeting Taiwan have posed a threat to peace between the two sides,” he said.
Since the pro-independence president was re-elected in March, Beijing has stressed its long-standing vow to take Taiwan by force should the island try to declare formal independence.
The Taiwanese navy currently operates a fleet of four submarines, but only two of them could be deployed in the event of war. The other two are Guppy-class warships built by the United States in the 1940s.
Before the first new submarines can be delivered to the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry plans to upgrade the combat capability of the two Dutch-built submarines which have been serving the navy for 16 years, the Taipei-based Liberty Times reported, without identifying its source.
The two submarines would then be able to launch U.S.-made Harpoon missiles to attack maritime targets, it said, adding they would also be armed with air-independent propulsion systems that would make the warships to remain submerged on battery at slow speed for a longer period of time.
Nevertheless, Chen has insisted the arms package is intended to defend Taiwan and has vowed to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait.
“Hereby I want to stress that sustaining sufficient self-defense capability is by no means aimed to engage in an arms race with the Chinese communists,” he said.
“Wars can only be stopped by full preparation for wars.”
China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taipei to keep seeking advanced weaponry to defend itself.
The United States has remained the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war.
In an elaborate public relations exercise, President Chen Shui-bian took a group of journalists out on the navy’s Sea Tiger, a Dutch-built Sword Dragon-class submarine, off southern Taiwan to carry out routine drills.
The exercise was not part of ongoing war games in both China and Taiwan that have prompted the United States to call for restraint from both sides in order to avoid provoking already tense relations between the rivals.
“Submarines would be the best weaponry to defend Taiwan from attack... as they are able to launch a blitz and easy to hide,” Chen told reporters after wrapping up the unprecedented exercise.
Separately, the island’s military continued to hold a live-fire exercises in central Taiwan, with howitzers and cannons as well as Super Cobra attack helicopters firing on targets simulating an invasion.
The Taiwan government’s controversial 610 billion Taiwan dollar ($18.2 billion) budget includes a plan to buy eight U.S.-built submarines and new weaponry such as anti-missile Patriot systems and submarine-hunting P-3C aircraft over a 15-year period from 2005.
The deal is to go before parliament for approval towards the end of the year.
“Given the Chinese communists’ refusal to drop their military threat, sustaining sufficient self-defense capability is a must to safeguard the lives and freedom of our fellow countrymen,” President Chen said.
“Their (Chinese) continued efforts to hike military spending and missiles targeting Taiwan have posed a threat to peace between the two sides,” he said.
Since the pro-independence president was re-elected in March, Beijing has stressed its long-standing vow to take Taiwan by force should the island try to declare formal independence.
The Taiwanese navy currently operates a fleet of four submarines, but only two of them could be deployed in the event of war. The other two are Guppy-class warships built by the United States in the 1940s.
Before the first new submarines can be delivered to the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry plans to upgrade the combat capability of the two Dutch-built submarines which have been serving the navy for 16 years, the Taipei-based Liberty Times reported, without identifying its source.
The two submarines would then be able to launch U.S.-made Harpoon missiles to attack maritime targets, it said, adding they would also be armed with air-independent propulsion systems that would make the warships to remain submerged on battery at slow speed for a longer period of time.
Nevertheless, Chen has insisted the arms package is intended to defend Taiwan and has vowed to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait.
“Hereby I want to stress that sustaining sufficient self-defense capability is by no means aimed to engage in an arms race with the Chinese communists,” he said.
“Wars can only be stopped by full preparation for wars.”
China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taipei to keep seeking advanced weaponry to defend itself.
The United States has remained the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war.