Taiwan builds up mobile defenses to fight off possible Chinese landing

New strategy emphasizes asymmetric warfare as force gap widens

20240328N taiwan ship tsai inspection AP

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a commissioning ceremony for two new naval corvettes on March 26. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

TSUKASA HADANO, Nikkei staff writer

March 29, 2024 01:53 JST

TAIPEI -- The Taiwanese military is changing how it plans to respond to an attack by China's rapidly growing forces, adopting more mobile equipment to fight back after a landing rather than merely focusing on repelling an invasion at sea with firepower.

Taiwan's navy took delivery this week of two "carrier killer" corvettes, handed over by the shipbuilder 20 months ahead of schedule in a ceremony presided over by President Tsai Ing-wen, who had ordered the vessels to be built.