𝐀’𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧’ 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐧. 𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐢, 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Leader Tsai Ing-wen has launched Taiwan’s first domestically manufactured submarine in an effort to increase the island’s self-sufficiency. The $1.5 billion CSBC Corp.-built submarine will be the first of eight new subs to enter service by 2025. Taiwan has spent more than $1.5 billion on the submarine since its debut in 2016. The 70-meter-long submarine, named after a sea monster from Chinese legend, will begin undersea testing and sea trials next month and will be delivered to the navy by the end of next year. Taiwan expects to have a second boat in service by 2027, giving the navy three combat-ready, diesel-electric submarines by 2025 and four by 2027 if the two Dutch-made Hai Lung-class submarines purchased in the 1980s are included. The submarines will be critical to the navy’s asymmetric warfare capabilities. Taiwan has revealed that the IDS initiative, which involves at least seven countries, is reliant on foreign expertise and technology. The submarines will be equipped with US-made combat and sonar systems, as well as submarine-launched anti-ship missiles. Taiwan’s president has described the first prototype, known as “Hai Kun,” as a “wonder weapon in asymmetric warfare.” China’s Defense Ministry dismissed the new equipment as “nonsense,” claiming that Taiwanese authorities had no method of halting the reunification momentum. It is yet uncertain if the boats will be a realistic deterrent to the Chinese invasion once operational. China, which currently operates more than 60 submarines, appears determined to become a world-class power in this domain, with an Australian think tank analysis naming the country a global leader in key technologies such as coatings, underwater wireless communication, sonar and acoustic sensors, and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) in June. Beijing regards Taiwan as an intrinsic part of China proper, and it has repeatedly asserted its right to forcibly rejoin Taiwan in the event that the island declares independence.