From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   Taiwan Unveils Homemade Submarine as It Seeks to Counter China Threat   
   By Joyu Wang, Sept. 28, 2023, WSJ   
   China’s recent military drills are aimed at crushing the “arrogance of   
   Taiwan independence separatists,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for   
   Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday, a day before Taiwan’s   
   submarine launch.   
      
   The Chinese military has made a priority of preventing the U.S. from being   
   able to intervene in any military conflict around Taiwan, given the island’s   
   geographical advantages, including the 100-mile-wide strait that separates   
   Taiwan from China and the    
   steep spine of mountains running down the center of the island, forming a   
   natural barrier to enemy troops from the west.   
      
   For Taiwan, the new Narwhal submarine could serve as an effective deterrent,   
   equipped with U.S.-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes, making any plans for an   
   attack on Taiwan more uncertain.   
      
   “It complicates all your calculations, it complicates your planning, and you   
   might have to devote resources just simply to hunt for the undersea threat   
   that you face,” said Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the Institute of Defence   
   and Strategic Studies    
   at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. “That alone can be quite   
   a tedious and sometimes unrewarding task.”   
      
   For Huang, a national security adviser and former head of Taiwan’s navy,   
   building an undersea vessel from scratch required several trips to Washington   
   to persuade senior Pentagon officials to support its efforts.   
      
   “The security of Taiwan is directly related to the interests of the United   
   States. If Taiwan were to fall, it would also impact U.S. interests,” Huang   
   recalled telling his Pentagon counterparts, warning the U.S. about China’s   
   Communist Party. “   
   The CCP is already knocking on your front door. Do you think you should   
   help?”   
      
   Huang said he drew upon personal connections to seek help, writing letters to   
   executives of military suppliers around the world. In 2018, Taiwan was able to   
   win approval from the U.S. for exports of submarine parts and important   
   technology that it wasn’   
   t able to produce domestically.   
      
   Among other challenges, concerns about espionage kept the former admiral awake   
   for many nights, referring to one Taiwanese supplier that he said leaked   
   submarine plans to Chinese officials after failing to win a Taiwanese   
   procurement bid. Huang didn’t    
   elaborate.   
      
   Taiwan’s new submarine, known in Chinese as “Haikun”—a reference to a   
   sea monster from Chinese lore—will first undergo testing before entering   
   service for Taiwan’s navy. Huang said the goal is for Taiwan to have at   
   least four submarines    
   active in service by 2027, after adding one more to the existing fleet.   
      
   Submarines are what military analysts describe as a sea denial weapon because   
   of their ability to play a role in deterring ships, in this case from coming   
   close to the island. They are mobile and don’t need to spend much time in   
   port to operate.   
      
   “These submarines are survivable platforms,” said Thomas Shugart, a former   
   submarine officer and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New   
   American Security. “You can just send them to sea and say, ‘Hey, sink   
   whatever stuff’s coming    
   across the strait.’”   
      
   Even so, questions remain over whether Taiwan will be able to finance the   
   production of more homemade submarines. A general election in January will see   
   Taiwanese voters pick a new president and legislative body, with power over   
   the military budget.   
      
   Former navy captain Jiang Hsin-biao, an assistant research fellow at the   
   Taiwanese military-backed Institute for National Defense and Security Research   
   said he would like to see the Taiwanese navy operate at least 16 homemade   
   submarines, which could work    
   in tandem with Taiwanese surface ships and air power to deter the PLA’s   
   rising naval capabilities.   
      
   “What surface ships fear most is attacks from beneath the water,” Jiang   
   said.   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/world/china/taiwan-unveils-homemade-submarin   
   -as-it-seeks-to-counter-china-threat-ad4c41e8   
      
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