BEJING, May 29 the fourth in a row, the Tojiang-class multi-purpose stealth corvette, the Central News Agency of the island (CNA) reports, citing a knowledgeable source.
«The ship is expected to be handed over to the Navy in June,» the report says.
The agency notes that the transfer of another Tuojiang-class corvette to the Navy will strengthen Taiwan's forces at sea and «respond to the threat from the Chinese Communist Party.»
The Tojiang-class multi-purpose stealth corvette is a wave-piercing catamaran, its length is 60.4 meters and its width is 14 meters. Corvette is capable of speeds up to 70 kilometers per hour. The Tojiang is armed with eight Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missiles and eight Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles.
Earlier, the island's fleet has already received three Tojiang-class corvettes.
Tujiang corvettes are manufactured by the Taiwanese company Lungteh Shipbuilding. In total, it is planned to build 11 such ships for the Taiwanese Navy.
The situation around Taiwan escalated significantly after a visit to the island in early August last year by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. China, which considers the island one of its provinces, condemned Pelosi's visit, seeing in this move US support for Taiwanese separatism, and held large-scale military exercises.