Recently, the Taiwan military revealed that it will build the coast patrol department into Taiwan's second navy to effectively assist the Taiwan navy in joint combat missions. The Taiwan military currently plans to add Anping-class frigates to strengthen the maritime patrol force, and allow the "Anping ships" to participate in this year's "Han Kuang" military exercise.
We all know that the "coast patrol department" is equivalent to the " Coast Guard ", which is mainly responsible for patrolling, fishing protection, anti-smuggling, and other tasks. Its functions are also positioned at marine law enforcement and patrol rescue, but as far as the current Taiwan authorities are concerned, The approach obviously turned it into a military unit, and the mission seemed to have become a military defense and combat mission.
As early as a few years ago, Tsai Ing-wen proposed the "Second Navy" plan, the "Prospective Development Plan for the Construction of Coast Guard Ships" with a budget of tens of billions of yuan ( New Taiwan Dollars ) to build 141 ships . As far as the current situation is concerned, it should have already taken shape, so he was so "outspoken" and said that he had instant firepower.
Taiwan's first navy is completely unable to compete with the People's Liberation Army's navy. A poor department like the Coast Guard is poorly equipped with weapons and is unable to complete its task of driving away numerous foreign fishing boats. It is conceivable that its effectiveness in wartime will be extremely low.
In order to enhance the capabilities of the Coast Patrol Department, the Taiwan Military Coast Guard Department has formulated the so-called "Wartime Utilization Plan of Coast Guard Forces" with the Taiwan Defense Department, with the purpose of effectively assisting the navy in joint operations.
Taiwan’s newly built Anping-class frigate will join the maritime patrol department, which has the function of “combining peacetime and wartime”.
The Anping ship was launched in December last year, with a displacement of 600 tons. It is an improved design based on the Taiwan Navy's "Tuojiang ship" blueprint. In addition to Zhenhai rockets, it also reserves space and pipelines for the use of Hsiung Feng missiles. During wartime, the Taiwan Navy will come according to law. command.
Not long ago, Taiwan and the United States signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing a Coast Guard Working Group." Taiwan's "Representative Office in the United States" announced that the Coast Guard Working Group established this time will provide the U.S. Coast Guard and the Taiwan Coast Guard with a forum to discuss, review, and set priorities, as well as enhance contact between the two parties, establish cooperation, and share information. platform.
In the past, the United States has always adopted a vague strategy in its Taiwan policy, especially on whether to "help defend" Taiwan. The blatant signing of this memorandum may mean that the Biden administration's Taiwan strategy will be clear. This deserves our high vigilance.
Although the memorandum states that the two sides will carry out extensive cooperation in the fields of marine conservation, combating maritime crimes, humanitarian rescue and disaster prevention, some analysts believe that the United States will definitely help under the guise of maritime rescue and law enforcement. Taiwan has rebuilt its maritime patrol force and even used the United States' standards for constructing its Coast Guard to build Taiwan's maritime patrol department into Taiwan's second navy.
It can be said that the US policy towards Taiwan is gradually losing its bottom line, and the risk of direct conflict between China and the US over the Taiwan Strait issue is also rising with the tide. Although the option of force is not the first choice of mainland China, there is no room for retreat on the issue of reunification. (Text/Chang Lin)
