Taiwan begins sea trials of first locally built submarine amid tensions with China
TAIPEI, June 18 — Taiwan has started sea trials of its first domestically built submarine, as it upgrades its military capabilities to defend against a potential Chinese attack.
The vessel is part of a submarine programme launched in 2016 that aims to deliver a fleet of eight vessels.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the self-ruled island, which insists it is a sovereign nation and not subordinate to Beijing.
Shipbuilder CSBC Corp said Tuesday that sea trials of the submarine began in the southern port of Kaohsiung on Saturday, nearly two years after the vessel was unveiled.
The submarine successfully wrapped up the trial—the first of three stages—on Tuesday with a 'floating navigation test', the company said in a statement.
'CSBC Corporation will continue, based on the test results, to adjust and improve each system, and proceed to the next phase of submerged navigation tests,' the company said.
The submarine measures 80 metres (262 feet) in length, has a displacement weight of about 2,500 to 3,000 tons, and boasts combat systems and torpedoes sourced from the US defence company Lockheed Martin.
The aim is to finish sea trials by September 30 and deliver the submarine by the end of November, the Navy said last month.
But the submarine programme has faced obstacles.
The main opposition Kuomintang party and the Taiwan People's Party, which together control the parliament, froze part of the programme's budget earlier this year.
The parties said they wanted to see the results of the submarine's sea trials before releasing the funds.
Taiwan, which would be massively outgunned by China in a war, is trying to boost its ability to wage 'asymmetric warfare' involving more agile equipment like submarines and drones.
But there are concerns that opposition efforts to cut military spending could hurt the island's ability to strengthen its firepower.
Taiwan's navy currently has two working submarines, Swordfish-class vessels bought from the Netherlands in the 1980s.
Over the same period, China has built itself one of the world's largest navies, with nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Plug leakages to ensure SST income not squandered, govt told
The government expects to generate an additional RM5 billion from the upcoming SST this year, and RM10 billion from 2026 onwards. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The government needs to plug inefficiencies in its departments and agencies to ensure the additional RM10 billion in yearly revenue expected from an expansion of the sales and service tax (SST) regime is spent wisely, an economist said. Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff of Putra Business School said the government is currently prioritising procurement reform by introducing an open tender system to replace direct negotiations. Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff. He said the open tender system offers a more structured approach which is essential to prevent wastage in public spending. 'Reforms to the procurement system are vital if we want to discourage graft and ensure that the additional RM10 billion in revenue earned from the expanded SST is not dissipated. 'Statistics show that a majority of cases involving wastage, leakages and corruption stem from a weak procurement system,' he told FMT. In a recent interview with FMT, Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican said the government was in the midst of reforming the procurement system to ensure revenue is spent optimally and to curb leakages. Johan said the government was expected to generate an additional RM5 billion this year from the SST expansion which kicks in next month. The SST is expected to generate RM10 billion annually beginning next year. Earlier this month, the finance ministry announced that a 5% to 10% rate will be imposed on non-essential goods from July 1, including rent, lease, construction, financial services, private healthcare and education. However, basic necessities will retain its tax exempt status. With the expansion, the government expects the SST to generate RM51.7 billion in revenue this year. Afzanizam Rashid. Separately, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the procurement reforms, being implemented alongside the SST, would help narrow the country's fiscal deficit. He said the dual initiatives would broaden fiscal space, enabling the government to enhance social assistance and allocate more funds for infrastructure development. Afzanizam said the increase in service tax to 8% in March last year bumped up SST collection by 30.3% in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, the implementation of targeted diesel subsidies has reduced spending on subsidies and social aid by 19.4%. 'The increased tax collection and reduced spending saw the fiscal deficit drop to 4.5% of the gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2024. 'This has allowed the government to increase aid for its Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) programmes to RM13 billion this year, up from RM10 billion in 2024.'
Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
‘We're not at war, but not at peace either': Singapore defence minister warns of becoming ‘collateral' amid rising global conflicts
SINGAPORE, June 28 – Singapore must heighten vigilance across various fronts due to escalating global conflicts that could see it becoming 'collateral in other people's fight', its Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said this week. Speaking to Singaporean reporters earlier this week, Chan said the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is continuously dealing with a wide spectrum of threats across its four service branches, as the country navigates a state that is neither conventional war nor peace. 'Today, we are not at war in the conventional sense, neither are we at peace in the conventional sense,' he was quoted saying by The Straits Times. 'We are always operating somewhere in between, with different gradations. And that's what keeps us on our toes.' The interview was held at the Ministry of Defence headquarters ahead of SAF Day on July 1, amid global security concerns stemming from rising tensions in the Middle East. Chan referenced the Iran-Israel conflict and the United States strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, cautioning that retaliatory actions could have broader implications beyond the key players involved. 'It could be anywhere else,' he said, warning that such developments might inflame regional sentiments and risk fuelling terrorism. He stressed that Singapore's defence posture must adapt to an evolving landscape where threats increasingly emerge from cyberspace and other non-traditional domains. Chan highlighted persistent cyber threats, with the Digital and Intelligence Service and other agencies fending off thousands of intrusion attempts daily, many of which are likely deliberate and malicious. Protecting Singapore's cyber domain is a round-the-clock effort, Chan added, warning that breaches could disrupt the power grid, financial systems and water supply, beyond compromising sensitive information or national reputation. Chan also noted daily attempts to influence public opinion in Singapore through information operations, warning of both direct and indirect efforts to sway national sentiment. 'The type of information operations that people conduct, perhaps directly on us and sometimes indirectly on us, where we are the collateral, is also not something that we will take lightly,' he said. The SAF also faces frequent incursions into its airspace and waters, with the air force responding to hundreds of suspicious cases annually, and the navy conducting extensive vessel checks in the busy Singapore Strait. 'The number of ships that sail through the narrow Singapore Strait, the number of boardings that we have to [do to] check and verify to make sure that the strait remains safe from threat actors, that goes into the hundreds as well and, in fact, sometimes the thousands,' he said.
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
When did we offer to team up with you, Bung asks ‘deluded' PBS
Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin accused PBS acting president Dr Joachim Gunsalam of 'political self-delusion'. PETALING JAYA : Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin has denied any offer to work with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) component Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in the upcoming state election. In a statement, Bung took aim at PBS acting president Dr Joachim Gunsalam, accusing him of 'political self-delusion' for suggesting that his party had turned down Barisan Nasional's (BN) offer to team up for the state polls. 'Sabah BN never at any point extended an invitation to PBS to collaborate. This appears to be yet another case of political self-delusion, where one imagines conversations and negotiations that simply never took place. 'You cannot reject a proposal that was never made. Please, don't flatter yourself,' Bung said. Yesterday, Joachim said the PBS Supreme Council had voted against working with BN in the state polls, adding that the party remained committed to GRS. PBS was formerly a BN component but left the coalition twice, most recently after the 2018 general election when BN fell from federal power. Bung, the Kinabatangan MP, said BN had moved on from former allies that had once abandoned the coalition. 'Sabah BN does not pursue alliances with parties that lack a clear political compass or credibility. PBS chose to abandon BN in the past for its own expedient interests. That chapter is closed,' he said. GRS and PH are currently allies in the Hajiji Noor state government, while BN sits in the opposition in the Sabah legislative assembly. GRS threatened to go solo in the state polls after the unity government secretariat announced that PH and BN had agreed to an election pact. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as PH chairman, later called for PH-BN to work with the ruling state coalition. Bung, who previously rejected working with GRS for the polls, recently said Sabah Umno was open to collaborating with the ruling coalition if it approached seat negotiations with sincerity.
