A Chinese H-6 bomber flies near the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 18 last year.
Photo: Reuters

The number of Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) last year was the highest since 1996, with the majority of them occurring in the zone’s southwest, a government-funded report has said.

Less than 10 days after enjoying a solo concert by Taiwan-born pianist Chen Ruei-bin (陳瑞斌), I was saddened to learn that China’s foremost pianist, Fou Tsong (傅聰), who at the end of the 1950s went into exile in the UK, had succumbed to COVID-19. These extremes of emotion served up by the pandemic — joy and heartache — conjure up memories.

Fou’s father, Fu Lei (傅雷), was a well-known translator of French literature. When I returned to China in 1955, Fu was living in Shanghai and had already achieved distinction. Two years later, at age 19, I was lucky enough to escape the horrors of the Anti-Rightist Movement. Fu was less fortunate and in 1958 was branded a “rightist.”

Following last month’s launch of the navy’s latest warship, the Ta Chiang, a heated debate has erupted in the media about whether the vessel can be classified as a “carrier killer,” with some claiming that it is a gross exaggeration of the ship’s capabilities.

So which side is right? Is the missile corvette a genuine “carrier killer” or not?

To find out, we must temporarily put aside the ship itself and instead focus on the missiles it is to carry: the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile.