Taiwan’s president commissions domestic-made naval warship

JOHNSON LAI
Associated Press

SU’AO, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president has overseen the commissioning of a new domestically made navy warship as part of the island’s plan to boost indigenous defense capacity amid heightened tensions with China. President Tsai Ing-wen spoke Thursday at a naval base on the island’s east coast, saying the ship “proves that on the path to becoming independent in national defense, no matter what difficulties arise, we can overcome them one by one.” The ship known as the Ta Jiang and nicknamed a “carrier killer” was built by Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co., a Taiwanese company. The ship is designed to have air defense capabilities and can carry anti-ship missiles. Tsai has made boosting Taiwan’s domestic defense industry a priority.