Taiwan beefs up anti-ship missile arsenal to counter threat of Chinese invasion
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- Taiwan will boost its anti‑ship missile stock to over 1,800 units by early 2029.
- Taiwan's opposition-controlled Parliament approved an additional US$25 billion in defense spending for U.S. munitions in May.
- Harpoon missiles are a core component of Taiwan's anti‑ship arsenal, complemented by domestically produced Hsiung Feng missiles to create a “kill zone” in the Taiwan Strait.
- Ou Si-fu, deputy chief executive officer for research at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the goal is to stop Chinese forces from landing, not to destroy every PLA ship.
- Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, warned that long‑range precision anti‑ship missiles would cripple a Chinese invasion fleet before it could cross the strait.
Why it matters: Taiwan gains a far larger, affordable missile force that can threaten Chinese warships before they reach the island, while China faces a costlier, riskier invasion calculus. The $25 billion spend accelerates procurement of U.S. and domestic missiles, reshaping the regional balance.
