Diesel-electric subs can pressurize China

Diesel-electric subs can pressurize China: official (updated AM 00:15)

2005/3/25

The China Post staff

In a bid to drum up further support for a controversial billion dollar U.S. arms deal, a defense ministry official yesterday said eight diesel-electric submarines in the U.S. weapons package would be able to attack crucial Chinese supply lines if a war broke out.

The official's comments came as the Legislature prepares to deliberate a special NT$480 billion budget for purchasing the diesel electric submarines along with anti-submarine aircraft and patriot anti-missile systems from America.

U.S. officials say the purchase is vital for Taiwan's friendship with America but many opposition politicians have doubts about the pricey purchase.

A leading analyst with the defense department Lin Chin-ching told the Legislature the defense ministry was assuming China would have the ability to go to war with Taiwan in 2012 and would be able to conduct a long-range war in 2020.

In the 2020 war scenario, Lin said, China would heavily rely on sea lines to import crucial energy sources, mineral products and food stuffs.

The military was anticipating China's anti-submarine forces would be limited and the eight diesel-electric submarines could be used to put direct or indirect pressure on China's sea lanes.

Lin said 90 percent of energy resources used by China's navy was imported. In 2020, China was expected to use around 40 300-ton oil tankers in its sea warfare. China's Achilles heel in this area was its reliance on imported oil, Lin said.

"The submarines would have a strategic use as a deterrent," said Navy commander Li Hai-tung.

But Lin did not deny the eight diesel-electric submarines could be used for an attack if necessary.

The defense ministry anticipated China's oil storage capacity in the event of war to be 30 days in 2005, 50 days in 2010 and 90 days in 2020.

"This reveals that China's oil storage capacity currently falls beneath its actual needs," Lin said.

"China's oil storage capacity has become our strategic target and an area where we could cause serious harm."

Lin said Taiwan also relied heavily on imports coming in from sea lanes but said this further emphasized the need to upgrade the island's military capabilities.

Lin said that both in terms of quality and in sheer numbers, it was hard for Taiwan to match China's growing naval might.

Opposition Kuomintang legislator Ting Shou-chung was skeptical, asking if this meant the military had the right to attack any cargo ship heading for China in the event of war.

Defense Minister Lee Jye said the military could only attack ships bearing China's five-star national flag after war was declared.

"The effectiveness of this strategy is limited ... but it's still a strategy that can bring some results," Lee told the Legislature, saying the presence of the submarines would make China uncomfortable.

Ting said he still suspected the military could be manipulating the media by releasing this information. He said China was an important trading partner for many countries and Taiwan staging a blockade of Chinese shipping lines would make the island an enemy of the rest of the world.

The special budget for the U.S. arms deal was originally NT$610.8 billion but the opposition-dominated Legislature refused to pass it last year, with opposition politicians saying the price tag was too high and the money would be better spent on social welfare.