President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to funding indigenous shipbuilding and aircraft programs to lay the foundations for developing local defense industries, adding that they are key to strengthening the nation’s self-defense capabilities.
Lai made the remarks while presiding over a keel-laying ceremony in Kaohsiung for the first of six domestically built cruisers.
The cruisers were ordered by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) under former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2021 initiative to combat illegal fishing, and cost a total of NT$12.9 billion (US$390 million).
Photo: CNA
The plan aims to build six long-range vessels capable of patrolling international waters, extending Taiwan’s maritime reach and reinforcing the government’s commitment to safeguarding the nation’s territorial waters, Lai said.
The ship under construction would be equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system powerful enough to circle Taiwan up to 30 times per deployment, he said, adding that the extended range would enable the vessels to operate further afield.
The ship’s rear deck can store supplies, a coastal multipurpose boat, an attack boat, or a drone, depending on the ship’s mission, he said.
The vessel would bolster the coast guard’s maritime patrol capabilities, while also serving as a supply ship for outlying islands, or as a marine rescue ship, Lai said.
The nation’s coast guard personnel are hard at work defending our maritime borders against the Chinese Communist Party’s incessant harassment via “gray zone” tactics, Lai said, urging coast guard personnel to keep themselves safe when on duty.
Lai called on the Ocean Affairs Council, the CGA and CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) — the company building the vessels — to work hard to stay on schedule, while urging legislators across party lines to support relevant budgets to help safeguard Taiwan’s democratic way of life.
CSBC Taiwan chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said construction of the first vessel began last year and it is expected to be launched by October, after which it would undergo sea trials and testing, with delivery to the CGA scheduled for Aug. 11 next year.
The ship, measuring 100m in length, 16.5m at its widest point and 8m in depth, is expected to displace more than 3,000 tonnes without equipment and up to 8,000 tonnes when fully outfitted, Huang said
It would be armed with water cannons and high-pressure water guns, and feature the XTR-102 20mm remote weapon system developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, he added.
Designed for versatility, the ship would be capable of towing the CGA’s 4,000-tonne Chiayi-class patrol vessels and carrying modular cargo crates, broadening its potential operational roles, Huang said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —