Taiwan Launches Its First Submarine for Testing in Face of China’s Threats

Voice of America News reports: “Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen launched the self-governing island’s first domestically made submarine Thursday for testing after seven years of design and construction and increasingly aggressive moves by China.

The diesel-electric vessel must pass harbor and oceanfaring tests before the military can take full possession in 2024.

Tsai, who initiated the plan to build a submarine when she took office in 2016, said, ‘History will remember this day forever. In the past, a domestically produced submarine was considered a mission impossible [for Taiwan]. But today, a submarine designed and built by our countrymen is in front of you.

We did it. Building a submarine is not just a goal but a concrete realization of our commitment to defending our country. Submarines are important equipment for the Taiwan navy in developing asymmetric warfare strategies.’

Taiwan embarked on building its own submarines after Beijing used its economic and diplomatic heft to prevent it from purchasing any from allies. China considers the island its own territory, and at their closest point, the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, the two entities are 2 kilometers apart…”

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