SUAO (TAIWAN) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday that the island might become an arms supplier to Western countries. She was hailing Taiwan’s revamped weapons-design ability during the launch of the state-of-the-art missile-laden warship and commissioning of a new minelayer.
She has made modernisation of the defence of the island top priority in the wake of growing threats from China, which has not given up its claims over the democratic island and has always underlined the use of force to reclaim it.
The island’s air force has received big-ticket items like revamped F-16s and the navy is the president’s next focus. Submarines are in production and the launch of the first of a fleet of highly manoeuvrable stealth corvettes is the latest.
Taiwan navy has dubbed the new Tuo Chiang-class corvettes the ‘aircraft carrier killer’. Its prototype is already in operation. It can also carry Sky Sword anti-aircraft missiles apart from anti-ship missiles.
During the launch in the eastern port city of Suao, Tsai said the vessel and the new minelayer would thwart attacks and exhibited the island’s research and development ability.
“We have the determination and capability to complete the task of building our own ships, letting the world see our defence research and development energy,” Tsai said.
“In the future, we may also become a supply source of related equipment and components in Western democracies, driving the upgrading of the defence industry,” she said.
The island sources its weapons mainly from the US. Most nations are reluctant to supply arms to Taiwan as they are wary of angering China, which is the world’s second-largest economy.
After being re-elected in January, Tsai has pledged to stand up to China and has championed the concept of “asymmetric warfare”. This involves focusing on hi-tech, mobile weapons to make a Chinese attack as difficult as possible.
She has boosted the domestic weapons industry to make the island self-sufficient.
