The Taiwan navy’s Hai Lung-class submarines the ROCS Hai Lung, behind, and the ROCS Hai Hu, in front, surface during a naval exercise off the southern port city of Kaohsiung on July 29, 2004.

In the meantime, Taiwan's navy has just four submarines. The two newest subs Hai Lung ("Sea Dragon") and Hai Hu ("Sea Tiger") were ordered from the Netherlands in 1980 and delivered by 1988.

Taiwan Unveils New Navy Submarine Prototype in Face of China Threat 3 minute read The Taiwan Navy’s Hai Kun submarine unveiled at the CSBC dockyard in Kaohsiung, Sept. 28, 2023.

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The Taiwan Navy's Haikun submarine is unveiled during an event at CSBC Corp.'s dockyard in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Sept. 28, 2023. Bloomberg/Getty ...

According to the Pentagon’s 2014 report on China, if war were to break out Taiwan would face upwards of 34 Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarines.

Taiwan is plugging away at construction of its new, homemade submarines. The first of a planned eight indigenous submarines could join the Republic of China Navy as early as 2024. In the meantime ...

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen attends a ceremony for the production of domestic-made submarines at a CSBC shipyard in Kaohsiung on November 24, 2020. SAM YEH/AFP/AFP via Getty Images ...

Taiwan's new administration, led by President Lai Ching-te, said last week it wants to invest almost $9 billion into a domestically built submarine fleet. The plans for call for the construction ...

This commitment was complicated by the reality that the United States has not built diesel-electric submarines since the 1950s, as the U.S. Navy transitioned to an all-nuclear power submarine force.