Taiwan increases deployments in South China Sea to counter Chinese aggression: Report

Taiwan’s Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng on Wednesday said the United States-approved sale of sensitive submarine technologies to the country has not been impacted. Chiu Kuo-cheng, who was speaking to the parliament, assured the house that there have been no changes to the deal between Taiwan and the United States despite the new administration in the White House. According to Taipei Times, Washington had approved the sale of certain defence technologies to Taiwan in December 2020. 

As per reports, Chiu Kuo-cheng also informed the parliament that Taiwan has increased deployment of personnel and weaponry in the South China Sea to counter Chinese threats, adding that Beijing is capable of starting a conflict anytime. Chinese incursions in the South China Sea have massively increased in the past couple of years, which experts suggest is a move to pressurize Taipei into accepting Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has threatened to use military force against the small island nation on several occasions. However, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who came into power in 2016 and has since become a massive thorn for China, has repeatedly called for indigenous development of the country's military to counter threats from the Communist regime in the north.

Taiwan-US defence collaboration 

Taiwan is collaborating with the United States to develop its military and to stand up against Chinese aggression in the region. According to reports, the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific have decided to invest heavily on nuclear-powered submarines in order to deter China from attacking Taiwan. China is known for its massive Navy and to gain an upper hand, US and its allies have decided to build and deploy more submarines in the South China Sea as a safeguard for Taiwan. 

According to reports, Washington is investing about $22 billion to build a new class of submarines to operate in the South China Sea, while Tokyo and Seoul have started the building programme of their vessels, with the Japanese submarines already in production. Australia is reportedly planning to add 12 more vessels to its fleet of six submarines. Taiwan is investing $16 billion to build at least eight submarines for its own Naval forces, which currently have four in its fleet.