A military expert said China's submarine strategy has been aimed at targeting US aircraft carriers and making it more difficult for the US to use force in Asia, as Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday called for the international community to pay more attention to the Chinese threat to naval forces in Asia.
During an interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan, Wu said that China's ongoing military build-up indicates that it has ambitions beyond blockading Taiwan.
He said that China's military growth was such that while other nations usually had one shipbuilder making subs, China had three.
"Not only does China have Ming-class, Song-class and Yuan-class submarines, it has also has Type-093 and Type-094 nuclear-powered attack submarines," Wu said.
He noted that China had purchased a total of 12 Kilo-class submarines from Russia.
"China has more than it needs to create a military blockade around Taiwan -- clearly their ambitions aim higher than this," Wu said.
Ou Si-fu (
Ou hinted that China's submarine force has been focused on becoming capable of carrying out an underwater blockade of Taiwan.
China has been developing the capability to deploy its naval forces beyond its coastline, he said.
Beijing has developed submarine-launched ballistic missiles and a nuclear-powered submarine to carry them, he said.
Ou said the PLAN currently possessed one Hsia-class strategic missile-carrying sub, and a new indigenous nuclear-powered 094 submarine is expected to be completed later this year.
A long-rang ballistic missiles on the 094 submarine might be able to reach the US mainland from its underwater base on China's coast, he said.
He said the PLAN has more than 70 submarines. As the PLAN modernizes, it is phasing out its fleet of more than 30 older Romeo-class diesel submarines and replacing them with indigenously produced Ming and Song-class, and the Russian-built Kilo-class subs.
Ou said China has 20 Ming-class submarines, six or seven Soong-class submarines, four Kilo-class submarines and has placed an order for another eight Kilo-class submarines from Russia.
He said US intelligence officials have confirmed that China has produced a new non-nuclear powered attack submarine as the first Yuan-class submarine. He said the Song is the first Chinese submarine equipped with a submerged-launch anti-ship cruise missile.
The Song, Yuan and Kilo subs would provide the next generation in China's conventional submarine technology, he said.
However, Ou said the Kilo-class sub was designed in the late 1970s, and none of the three types are among the most advanced submarines. But he was doubtful the PLAN was capable of countering the more advanced US navy.
He said the PLAN longed to get its hands on the newest generation of Russian-built Lada (or Amur) class subs which will join the Russian navy later this year, but Moscow refused to export the technology to China. He said if the US sends more offensive subs and AGEIS destroyers to East Asia, it will be able to destroy the PLAN's submarine force.
Additional report by Joy Su
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS