Taiwan Prosecutors Investigate Rumors of Obstruction and Leaks of Submarine Program Details to China

Peluncuran kapal selam Hai Kun Taiwan. (Wikimedia Commons/men'tuk Badminton)

JAKARTA - Taiwan's prosecutor's office announced Monday that it was investigating allegations of obstruction and leaking of details of the country's submarine program to China.

Taiwanese Presidential Security Adviser Admiral Huang Shu-kuang told local media last week that unnamed lawmakers had made it difficult for the program to purchase critical equipment, and that a contractor who failed to get a bid passed on the information to China.

Taiwan's Attorney General's Office, in a brief statement, said Huang's allegations had attracted "great concern" given their implications for national security and defense, as quoted by Reuters, October 3.

It said it had instructed prosecutors to "investigate this case as soon as possible to safeguard national security".

However, the statement did not provide details or names.

Taiwan launched its first domestically developed submarine on Thursday last week, a major step in a project aimed at strengthening the island's defense and deterrence against China's navy, although the vessel will not be commissioned for another two years.

The diesel-electric submarine is officially named 'Narwhal' in English and 'Hai Kun' in Mandarin, which can be loosely translated as 'sea monster', as quoted by CNN.

"This submarine is an important realization of our concrete commitment to defending our country. It is also important equipment for our navy in developing an asymmetric warfare strategy," explained Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen at the launch.

Costing up to 49.36 billion Taiwan dollars or around 1.53 billion US dollars, the submarine will use a combat system made by Lockheed Martin Corp., as well as Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes made in the US. The plan is for the ship to enter sea trials next month before being delivered to the navy at the end of 2024.

It is known that Taiwan, which China considers its own territory, has made its domestically-made submarine program an important part of its armed forces modernization project, as Beijing holds almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty claims.