Taiwan commissions 'carrier killer' warship armed with anti-ship, anti-air missiles

Taiwan has commissioned a new warship dubbed an "aircraft carrier killer," accelerating efforts to strengthen its defenses amid intensifying military pressure from China.

President Lai Ching-te attended the commissioning ceremony for the navy's Tanjang in the southern port city of Kaohsiung on Friday, declaring that the event demonstrated "to the international community that Taiwan's national security policy is to achieve deterrence through strength," according to Taiwan's Central News Agency and the United Daily News.

Lai said the commissioning fulfilled the goal of building Taiwan's warships domestically, proving the country's capacity and quality in warship systems integration. He stressed that it also showed "the navy's firm resolve to defend national security and territorial waters against China's military threats and maritime gray-zone incursions."

"Peace is not achieved through a piece of paper — a peace deal — nor by accepting the goodwill or claims of an aggressor," Lai said. "Taiwan believes in achieving peace through strength and ensuring that strength serves as a deterrent."

Lai also used the occasion to call for indigenous defense development and argued for the need to allocate a large special defense budget.

"Strengthening defense capabilities, purchasing weapons from abroad and international cooperation are all important, but defense self-reliance is even more so," he said. "A special budget mechanism is needed for long-term, stable force buildup."

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed a special defense budget bill in May, cutting a proposed 1.25 trillion Taiwan dollars to about 780 billion Taiwan dollars — a reduction of roughly 62.4 percent — under legislation titled the "Special Act for the Procurement of Plans Related to National Security Defense and Asymmetric Force Enhancement."

The Tanjang, commissioned Sunday, is the first vessel in the second mass-production batch of the domestically developed Tuo Chiang-class high-speed stealth missile corvettes, and is regarded as an asymmetric asset targeting large Chinese naval vessels.

The ship is characterized by stealth capability, high-speed maneuverability and heavy firepower. It can carry the Hsiung Feng-2 and Hsiung Feng-3 anti-ship missiles as well as the Hai Chien-2 surface-to-air missile, earning it the nickname "aircraft carrier killer."

In response to China's sustained military activities — deploying warplanes and warships in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters — Taiwan plans to commission a total of 12 Tuo Chiang-class corvettes in sequence by the end of this year, further strengthening the navy's asymmetric capabilities.