TAIPEI - Taiwan’s domestic submarine programme faces many difficulties but is going according to plan, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Tuesday after Reuters reported a sharp increase in British exports of submarine parts to the island.

Taiwan has engaged an array of foreign submarine-technology vendors for its new fleet, with the approval of their governments, as it seeks to bolster its defences in the face of a rising military threat from China.

Asked about the Reuters report on the rise in British parts and technology sales to Taiwan, Mr Chiu said the submarine programme was “very important work”.

“There are indeed many difficulties. At present, everything is going according to plan,” he told reporters at parliament, declining direct comment on the story. “We’re working hard on this major construction.”

Taiwan has for decades been unable to buy conventional submarines from other economies because of their concerns about angering China.

Military tensions between Beijing and Taipei are at their highest point in decades as China tries to get Taiwan into accepting Chinese rule.

Taiwan’s democratically elected government strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. REUTERS