I pooh-poohed them for years, but I know for a fact my mind was not keeping up with the technology for the last few years. I was probably stuck still thinking of them as U-Boats...:)
For a country that has limited areas to defend its own sealanes in, I understand the ones they make now are very good. Granted, they don’t have the endurance fuel-wise of a nuclear sub, but they have been able to make them far quieter and quite stealthy for less money.
Still a fan of nuclear, though!
For Taiwan diesel-electric boats make perfect sense.