Taiwan’s Leader Launches Domestically Made Submarine Production

Taiwan’s President inaugurated the production of domestically made submarines Tuesday in the southern city of Kaohsiung, in a step forward for the island’s defense strategy at a time of elevated tensions with China.

This submarine is an important part of allowing our navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan’s main island,” said President Tsai Ing-wen. “Now, with the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty.”

Tsai has made boosting Taiwan’s indigenous defense capacity a central pillar of her defense policy. Recently, she relaunched the military aviation industry with the production of new trainer jets and has pushed for the development of more sophisticated systems by utilizing the island’s high-tech industries.

At the same time, she has gained approval from the U.S. for the purchase of billions of dollars in weapons, including upgraded F-16 fighter jets, armed drones, rocket systems and Harpoon missiles capable of hitting both ships and land targets.