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.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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