Current:Home > MarketsTaiwan launches the island’s first domestically made submarine for testing-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Taiwan launches the island’s first domestically made submarine for testing
lotradecoin promotions View Date:2024-12-25 14:49:23
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president launched the island’s first domestically made submarine for testing Thursday at a port in Kaohsiung.
The submarine, if successful in its tests, will be a major breakthrough for Taiwan in shipbuilding and design.
“In the past, a domestic made submarine was considered impossible, but today a submarine designed and built by our countrymen is in front of you,” said President Tsai Ing-wen at the launch ceremony. “It is the concrete realization of our resolution to protect” Taiwan.
The process was “torturous,” said Cheng Wen-lon, head of Taiwan’s CSBC Corporation, which led the constructions of the submarine. But its completion marks an important milestone in Taiwan’s strategy of adopting asymmetric warfare.
“Although we have worked quietly the past several years, it doesn’t mean the process was very smooth,” he said at the ceremony held in CSBC’s shipyard.
After years of construction and design, the prototype will begin a test in the harbor before being tested in the ocean.
The submarine, named Hai Kun, or literally “Sea Kun,” is named for a type of fish found in Chinese literature called Kun, of legendary proportions. It took seven years of design and construction.
It will only be handed over to the military after passing both its harbor and ocean-faring tests. Taiwan plans to build another submarine if successful, with both to be deployed by 2027, according to the semi-official Central News Agency.
Taiwan began the expensive and time-consuming task of building its own submarines after Beijing successfully prevented it from purchasing such craft from abroad through the use of economic and diplomatic threats.
In recent years, China has stepped up its military exercises aimed at the island, sending fighter jets and navy vessels to patrol and hold drills in the waters and skies near Taiwan.
In attendance at the ceremony, was the head of the U.S.'s de facto embassy Sandra Oudkirk, as well as the Japanese and Korean trade delegations based in Taiwan.
___
Wu reported from Taipei, Taiwan
veryGood! (646)
Related
- Pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked road near Sea-Tac Airport to have charges dropped
- Pirates of the Caribbean Actor Tamayo Perry Dead at 49 After Shark Attack in Hawaii
- Massachusetts Senate unveils its version of major housing bill
- Former North Dakota lawmaker to plead guilty to traveling to pay for sex with minor
- Drugs to treat diabetes, heart disease and blood cancers among those affected by price negotiations
- Supreme Court rejects appeal from Josh Duggar, former reality TV star convicted of child porn charges
- Bleacher Report class-action settlement to pay out $4.8 million: How to file a claim
- Stock market today: Asian stocks follow Wall Street rise, but Nvidia tumbles again as AI mania cools
- Judge tells Google to brace for shakeup of Android app store as punishment for running a monopoly
- J.Crew’s Effortlessly Cool & Summer-Ready Styles Are on Sale up to 60% Off: $12 Tanks, $19 Shorts & More
Ranking
- Don't be fooled by the name and packaging: Fruit snacks are rarely good for you. Here's why.
- Jerry Seinfeld mocks latest pro-Palestinian protesters: 'Just gave more money to a Jew'
- President Joe Biden ‘appalled’ by violence during pro-Palestinian protest at Los Angeles synagogue
- Social Security says it's improving a major practice called unfair by critics. Here's what to know.
- Justice Department defends Boeing plea deal against criticism by 737 Max crash victims’ families
- Prince William, George and Charlotte attend Taylor Swift's concert in London: A great evening
- Pennsylvania woman drowns after being swept over waterfall in Glacier National Park
- Jared Padalecki Shares How He Overcame Struggle With Suicidal Ideation
Recommendation
-
Gena Rowlands, acting powerhouse and star of movies by her director-husband, John Cassavetes, dies
-
Terrorist attacks in Russia's Dagestan region target church, synagogue and police, kill at least 19 people
-
Girl name? Boy name? New parents care less about gender in naming their babies
-
Sentencing awaits for former Arizona grad student convicted of killing professor
-
NASA Shares Update on Astronauts Stuck Indefinitely in Space
-
Banker in viral video who allegedly punched woman at Brooklyn Pride quits job at Moelis & Co.
-
Don't Miss GAP's Limited-Time Extra 50% Off Sale: $15 Sweaters, $17 Cargos & More
-
Crazy Town lead singer, 'Celebrity Rehab' star Shifty Shellshock dies at 49