Taiwan adds minelaying ships to defenses against China

Originally published in Defense News.

Taiwan on Friday commissioned new naval minelayers to add to its defenses against rival China.

President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a commissioning ceremony for the Navy’s First and Second Mining Operations squadrons, which will operate ships able to automatically sow large numbers of small but powerful mines at high speed without the need for divers.

Such technologies are part of a strategy to deter any possible invasion from China, with its huge military and vast superiority in numbers of aircraft, ships and other weaponry.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory, and has stepped up its threat to bring it under its control, by force if necessary, with frequent military exercises and by dispatching fighter jets and other planes to fly near the island.

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