Taiwan has been trying hard to revamp and upgrade its submarines as it is no where when compared to the Chinese submarines
The Ministry of National Defence in Taiwan has said that not only the United States (U.S), but European nations are also extending help for Taiwan’s indigenous submarine project.
Taiwan has been trying hard to revamp and upgrade its submarines, some of which belong to the World War II period. Specifically, Taiwan is no where when compared to the submarines owned by People’s Republic of China, which are capable of launching nuclear weapons.
The State owned CSBC Corporation, which produces ships for civilian and military use in Taiwan, has already commenced building the new submarines since 2020. It hopes to deliver the first of the 8 vessels in 2025.
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state in East Asia, which has been ruled separately from China since the end of a civil war in 1949. But China considers it to be a part of its territory. China has increased the diplomatic and military pressure on Taipei since Tsai Ing-wen became the President of Taiwan in 2016. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party refuses to acknowledge that Taiwan is a part of ‘One China’ and that China should understand that Taiwan is an independent country.
In 2018, the Unite States, under the Presidency of Donald Trump, allowed manufacturers of components to help Taiwan in getting components of submarine. Besides, U.S. is also providing sensitive technology to Taiwan to equip its fleet.
Separately, Taiwan has denied a media report, published in the U.S. based bimonthly – The National Interest, which stated that North Korea is helping Taiwan in revamping its submarines. It is to be noted that while U.S. is not in good terms with China and North Korea.
A Statement from Ministry of National Defence of Taiwan read, “In the development of our submarines there has never been, there is not now and will never be any contact with North Korea; assistance is all provided by important countries in Europe and the United States.”
The European nations are very cautious of selling arms to Taiwan as it may anger China. However, in 2018, Taiwan said that it is in talks with a Gibraltar based company for designing the fleet of new submarines. France has also sold frigates and fighter jets to Taiwan. Taiwan is also seeking equipment from France to upgrade the ship’s missile interference system.
It is to be noted that Taiwan has a total of 4 submarines. The first two submarines – Hai Lung (Sea Dragon) 793 and the Hai Hu (Sea Tiger) 794, were acquired from Netherlands in 1980s. In 1996, Taiwan acquired design information on Norway’s Ula-class and Argentina’s Santa Cruz-class (TR 1700) submarines.
Taiwan then went ahead and bought diesel submarines but struggled to complete this mission due to Chinese pressure. In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush offered Taiwan a foreign military sales package that included an offer for 8 diesel-electric submarines. But U.S. had not produced diesel-electric submarines since the 1950s. Hence, it was suggested that U.S. shipyards would produce the submarines off European-licensed designs. Wary of Chinese retaliation, Europe refused to license production for any U.S. diesel-electric submarines destined for Taiwan
In 2004, the U.S. agreed to build diesel-electric submarines for Taiwan from a clean-sheet design at the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi but again this effort was stalled. In 2010, U.S. announced a new foreign military sales package for Taiwan but it did not include the 8 diesel-electric submarines.
