TAIWAN FLAUNTS NEW ATTACK SHIP

KAOSHUNG: The island of Taiwan launched its first 10,000 ton-class amphibious landing ship on Tuesday, a move Chinese mainland experts said will only add to the rising military tensions in the Taiwan Straits.

Named the Yu Shan, Taiwan’s first domestically built 10,000 ton-class amphibious attack transport dock was launched in Kaohsiung on Tuesday, and it’s expected to be delivered in 2022, Taipei-based Central News Agency reported.

Attending the launch ceremony, Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan regional leader, claimed that the ship will enhance the defense capabilities of the island, the report said. The ship’s launch will not help to ease the ongoing tensions in the Taiwan Straits, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Five PLA aircraft, namely a Y-8 antisubmarine warfare aircraft and four J-16 fighter jets, entered Taiwan’s selfproclaimed air defense identification zone on Tuesday, the island’s defense authorities said on Twitter.

Recently, a ship-borne helicopter regiment under the PLA Navy organized helicopters to launch live antiship missiles in an exercise in the East China Sea, enhancing the pilots’ combat capabilities under complicated situations, navy.81.cn, the news website of the PLA Navy, reported on Tuesday.

The Taiwan navy’s new ship will not be a significant threat to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Because in a potential military conflict, it would be the PLA that use amphibious landing ships against Taiwan’s military, and by comparison, Taiwan’s ship is much inferior, Song said.

The PLA operates a number of Type 071s, a type of amphibious landing ship that displaces about twice as much as Taiwan navy’s Yu Shan, according to openly available information.