Taiwan’s new warship counters China threat

A day after Chinese warplanes breached its airspace, Taiwan unveils addition to arsenal.

The Yu Shan is fitted with a pair of missile launchers that are believed to be capable of holding eight indigenous Hsiung Feng II anti-ship or 16 Hai Chien naval surface-to-air missiles. Picture: Taiwan's Office of the President

Taiwan unveiled its first amphibious warship on Tuesday — a day after the Chinese military breached the island’s airspace with 25 warplanes amid escalating tensions in the region.

The new 10,000-tonne ship, named Yu Shan, can be used to land troops and bolster supply lines to vulnerable islets. Taiwan is responding to rising military pressure from Beijing, which sees the island as a Chinese territory and vows to take it back, by force if necessary.

President Tsai of Taiwan hailed Yu Shan as a “milestone” in the island’s ambitious program to upgrade its armed forces in response to the threat. “I believe that this ship will certainly strengthen the navy’s ability to fulfil its mission and further solidify our defences,” Tsai said.

Built by the state-backed CSBC Corporation Taiwan, the pounds 120 million ship will enter service next year, armed with cannon, anti-aircraft missiles and Phalanx close-in weapons systems. Taiwan is also upgrading a runway on Pratas Island in the South China Sea to allow it to “rapidly transport military assets to support the nation’s armed forces”, according to the Central News Agency, Taiwan’s official wire service.

Beijing has been steadily increasing the pressure on Taiwan since Tsai was elected president in 2016 and refused to acknowledge the One China policy. The island broke away from the mainland after the bloody civil war in the 1940s, and later established a democratically elected government.

The Chinese air force has been testing Taiwan’s air defence identification zone ever more frequently: Monday’s incursion was the largest in a year, with 18 fighter jets among the 25 planes involved, according to the Taiwanese ministry of defence.

The Times