KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan - Taiwan's navy took delivery Friday of a new, domestically made amphibious warfare ship that can be used to land troops and bolster supply lines to vulnerable islands, part of President Tsai Ing-wen's defence self-sufficiency push.
Speaking at the delivery ceremony in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Ms Tsai said the ship was a testament to Taiwan's efforts to boost production of its own warships and achieve the goal of"national defence autonomy". CSBC chairman Cheng Wen-lung said, as well as being an amphibious warfare vessel, with space for landing craft and helicopters, it will assume the"main transport role" for the South China Sea and offshore Taiwanese islands that lie close to the Chinese coast, long considered easy targets for China in the event of war.