The latest domestically designed and built 600-tonne class Coast Guard Administration (CGA) vessel, the Yong Kang (永康艦), was yesterday formally launched by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Kaohsiung as part of efforts to beef up the nation’s coastal patrol capabilities amid rising tensions with China.
The government has pledged to spend US$1.31 billion in building 141 ships of six different types for the CGA between 2018 and 2027, Hsiao said during the ceremony.
The Yong Kang is the eighth 600-tonne Anping-class missile corvette to be launched as part of the project, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The vessel’s launch highlights the determination of the government to patrol the seas around the country and to safeguard its people and fishing rights, she said.
The ship would be responsible for patrolling off southern Taiwan during peacetime and serve as a force of defense during wartime, she added.
The 10-year domestic shipbuilding project has not only boosted the CGA’s patrol capabilities, but also created thousands of jobs for the local shipbuilding industry, while increasing the sector’s international competitiveness, Hsiao said.
Photo: CNA
The project includes constructing four 4,000-tonne, six 1,000-tonne, 12 600-tonne, 17 100-tonne and 52 35-tonne patrol vessels, along with 50 littoral utility boats.
Also at the ceremony, the CGA also christened its ninth Anping-class missile corvette, the Chang Bin (長濱艦), which once finished and delivered, would be deployed to patrol off eastern Taiwan, the coast guard said.
The CGA has been busy expelling Chinese vessels and warships out of waters surrounding Kinmen County, near China’s Fujian Province, following a fatal collision earlier this year that escalated cross-strait tensions.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Previously, official Chinese vessels seldom traveled into the prohibited waters around Kinmen, which were restricted to non-Taiwanese vessels by the Ministry of National Defense beginning in 1992.
However, Beijing has continued to send vessels into the area in protest following the fatal incident on Feb. 14 off the coast of Kinmen that killed two Chinese nationals when their boat capsized while being pursued by the CGA.
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