Title: New 600-ton Patrol Vessel Delivered to Taiwan's Coast Guard
REPORTER:
A new 600-ton patrol vessel was delivered to Taiwan’s coast guard today and it could be a key asset in countering Chinese military activity.
With a range of 2,000 nautical miles, this 600-ton patrol vessel is built to quickly respond to emergencies at sea, inspect foreign fishing boats, and police waters around Taiwan. With its rocket launchers, 20-millimeter cannons and compatibility with antiship missiles, it packs a real punch.
Delivered on Thursday, the Su Ao is the 10th Anping-class vessel in service in Taiwan’s coast guard.
All of these achievements are not only a strong force for safeguarding security in the Taiwan Strait and peace in the region but also symbolize that Taiwan has taken an important step on the path toward defense self-reliance.
In recent years, Taiwan has faced increasing incursions from the Chinese coast guard and navy vessels, as well as civilian fishing boats.
On Tuesday morning, Taiwan detected and expelled two Chinese vessels in the restricted waters near Dongsha Island. The island, commonly known as Pratas Island, is claimed by both China and Taiwan in the South China Sea.
The coast guard monitored the situation and drove away Chinese coast guard vessels 3103 and 3105. At 6:15pm, the ships left the waters to the southwest of Dongsha Island and exited the restricted zone, heading westward.
Just this year, Taiwan’s coast guard recorded 159 incidents of Chinese vessels entering the restricted waters around Dongsha. It described the latest intrusion as part of China’s gray zone tactics — moves meant to strain Taiwan’s defenses without triggering open conflict.
The main reason China is doing this is, first, to highlight its claim of sovereignty over Dongsha Island and the surrounding waters. The other reason is that its fishing boats operate in waters near us to carry out fishing activities. We have to drive them off. Essentially, what the Chinese Communist Party is doing is trying to assert its sovereignty and law-enforcement authority over Dongsha.
To better counter China’s gray-zone efforts, experts say Taiwan should step up monitoring and intelligence gathering on Chinese vessels, identify their weaknesses, and shift from a passive posture to a proactive one. That means ships like the Su Ao will have their work cut out for them.
James Lin, Lery Hiciano and Alan Lu for TaiwanPlus.
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