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SUAO, Taiwan: Taiwan may become an arms supplier to Western democracies, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday (December 15), praising the island’s enhanced weapons design capabilities by launching an advanced warship. loaded with missiles and commission a new miner.
Tsai has made the push to defend Taiwan a priority in the face of growing military challenge from Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring democratic Taiwan under its control.
While Taiwan’s air force has benefited from expensive items like new and improved F-16s, the navy is Tsai’s next focus, with submarines in production and the launch Tuesday of the first of a fleet of highly maneuverable stealth corvettes. .
The new Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, a prototype of which is already in operation, have been dubbed by the Taiwanese navy as the “aircraft carrier killer” due to their complement of anti-ship missiles. It can also carry Sky Sword anti-aircraft missiles.
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Speaking in the eastern port city of Suao for the launch of the Ta Chiang, the first mass-produced Tuo Chiang-class ship, Tsai said the ship and the new miner would deter attacks and showcased Taiwan’s research and development capabilities. .
“We have the determination and the ability to complete the task of building our own ships, letting the world see our defense research and development energy,” Tsai said.
“In the future, we may also become a source of supply for related equipment and components in Western democracies, driving the improvement of the defense industry,” he said.
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The United States is Taiwan’s main foreign source of arms. Most countries avoid arming the island, wary of enraging Beijing and losing valuable business contracts with the world’s second-largest economy.
Tsai, overwhelmingly re-elected in January with a commitment to take on China, has championed the concept of “asymmetric warfare,” focusing on high-tech mobile weapons designed to make any Chinese attack as difficult as possible.
It has strengthened the national arms industry to try to make Taiwan as self-sufficient as possible.
