Bibliography: “[Taiwanese] Ministry plans 7 improved attack subs. PROPOSAL: The submarines, the first of which would enter into production in 2026, would fire Harpoon missiles and feature better combat systems than the ‘Hai Kun’,” Taipei Times. Taiwan Republic 台灣国, geostrategery, and world history classrooms. These eight Taiwanese submarines are critical to Taiwan Republic’s ability to deter and defeat a Chinese invasion to annex Taiwan. If anything, the planned Taiwanese submarine fleet should be larger than the planned 8+2. These Taiwan-assembled submarines’ capabilities and their successful production serve Taiwan’s national security interest and therefore are important for vital American and Japanese national interests. The success of this submarine program is no less critical to the Free World than the AUKUS submarines.
There are important historical and contemporary contexts regarding these Taiwan-produced submarines. First, because of decades of contradictory and self-defeating US policy, Taiwan has not been able to obtain a substantial fleet of submarines from the 1950s until the 2020s – and at great cost in time and money to Taiwanese taxpayers. As with other major weapons that, because of misguided and failed US policies, forced Taiwan into domestic production, such as the AIDC’s IDF jet fighters, one may reasonably question whether it makes any sense for a nation the size of Taiwan to pursue domestic production of submarines. If the US is serious about facing the China Threat, this self-defeating pattern must be altered. Second, it is not clear what the Chinese Taipei leadership of the Ministry of National Defense (still Army-dominated and defeatist in outlook) – or even the Navy’s position is on these submarines. Third, a recent spate of news within the China KMT-dominated Taiwanese news media indicates complex information warfare against these submarines – with the first wave of attack concerning quality-reliability, then in line with the pro-China anti-democracy force’s tactics regarding vaccines and eggs, and green energy, evidence-free assertions of graft and unusually high cost. The most recent line of information warfare attacks appears to be suggestions that the submarines will prevent other domestic arms projects from proceeding.
Even though the 2024 Taiwan parliament has an anti-democracy and pro-China majority, which will cause the submarine project some delays, it is important to compare 2024 with 2000. Both had a pro-democracy and pro-Taiwan president, both with an anti-democracy anti-Taiwan parliament. President Chen of 2000 failed to push through the submarine program – DPP was far less experienced, and the US was still too ambivalent regarding the China Threat. In 2024 the global environment and political landscape in Taiwan Republic have changed. The success of this Taiwanese submarine program will require clarity and focus from policymakers from the US and the Free World. AUKUS may serve as a model – for these submarines to be assembled in Taiwan, but with technological expertise coordinated by the US, Japan, and NATO allies – ensuring that the Taiwanese submarines and their sailors will be able to communicate and coordinate with the allied forces led by the Indo-Pacific command. The US, Japan, Australia, and European democracies have great influence among Taiwanese citizens, even within the anti-democracy and pro-China China KMT and China People’s Party. It is important that the US and Japan not sit passively while the Chinese communists conduct their influence campaign against the Taiwan submarine program. 11.7.2024
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Tommy Chi諸葛風雲的異想世界 https://www.youtube.com/@sunponyboy/featured
Armed with a heavyweight torpedo made to ‘break ships in half,’ Taiwan’s first homemade submarine represents a new threat to China’s navy https://ca.news.yahoo.com/armed-heavyweight-torpedo-made-break-100001579.html
Taiwan to build 7 new submarines with Harpoon missiles in $284 billion project https://armyrecognition.com/news/navy-news/2024/taiwan-to-build-7-new-submarines-with-harpoon-missiles-in-284-billion-project
Budget for Taiwan’s next 7 submarines to wait until Narwhal tests completed. First indigenous submarine still undergoing harbor tests https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5899080
Across the Indo-Pacific, militaries scramble to put more submarines in the water. Several US allies in the region have launched new subs this year, and others are making plans to buy them, reflecting a long-standing focus on undersea warfare that is only intensifying. https://breakingdefense.com/2024/06/across-the-indo-pacific-militaries-scramble-to-put-more-submarines-in-the-water/
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