- Frank Gardner
- BBC security reporter
Image source,PA Media
The HMS Queen Elizabeth (HMS Queen Elizabeth) is a member of the British aircraft carrier strike group that is passing through the Chinese Sea in Vietnam.
Beijing has been paying close attention to the eastward voyage of the British aircraft carrier strike group, which is currently traveling to Japan through the South China Sea. China also criticized Britain for “still living in the colonial era.”
Recently, the Royal Navy has been conducting exercises with the Singapore Navy. The Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace (Wallace) bluntly stated that the British Navy intends to conduct so-called “Freedom of Navigation” exercises in the South China Sea. .
Contrary to the 2016 International Tribunal’s ruling, China claims that most of the sea area belongs to China and has been building artificial reef islands and runways, some of which are very close to the territorial waters of neighboring countries.
Recently, warships of the United States and the Royal Navy have deliberately traversed the Vietnam Sea to challenge China’s claim to sovereignty over the South China Sea.
Please activate Javascript to see the map.
Image source,DigitalGlobe / Getty Images
China has reclaimed land from many islands and reefs in the South China Sea, turning them into islands.
The question now is: Will we see a close encounter similar to the one that took place in the Black Sea in June this year? At that time, the HMS Defender (HMS Defender), a Type 45 (Brave class) destroyer of the Royal Navy, was approaching the disputed Crimean peninsula and had friction with Russian fighters.
Veerle Nouwens, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London think tank, told the BBC: “China does not seek direct confrontation with the United States’ major allies in the South China Sea, but Beijing will definitely clearly state its intentions.”
If the United Kingdom conducts free navigation exercises in the South China Sea, then Ms. Wen Liyu believes that we are likely to witness a repeat of what happened when the British amphibious dock landing ship HMS Albion sailed in the South China Sea in 2018. At that time, a Chinese warship followed the Poseidon’s Son just 200 meters behind it and continued to warn it to leave the sea. Moreover, a Chinese fighter plane flew over a British ship at low altitude.
Image source,AFP
The US aircraft carrier battle group has also cruised in the South China Sea many times.
In addition, China has been holding large-scale military exercises in the region this week to practice beach grabbing. This move has caused some analysts to worry that China is preparing to finally invade Taiwan.
The Global Times also said that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy will use the presence of the British aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea “as an opportunity to practice and study the latest British warships at close range.”
The report quoted the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom as saying: “The British claim that the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is threatened is pure nonsense. The British sent aircraft carrier battle groups so far to the South China Sea to make trouble and show off their muscles, which intensified military tensions in the South China Sea. Situation, who is’threatening the freedom and safety of navigation’?”
Although the arrival of the aircraft carrier strike group in the area caused some angry comments from Beijing, Sidharth Kaushal, a naval power researcher at RUSI, stated that when it came to the naval confrontation, “China’s actions have been It is judged to be far lower than any possibility that will trigger a war.”
In 2018, BBC reporters boarded a US military plane and flew over the controversial South China Sea.
As the British government’s recent comprehensive review pointed out, the deployment of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and its escorts to East Asia is regarded by the British government as one of its efforts to play a more critical role in global security.
In addition, with China’s growing military and economic power seemingly unstoppable now, France and other European countries have also been turning their attention to the South China Sea.
China has recently begun to substantially upgrade its nuclear ballistic missile arsenal, build new silos in remote Xinjiang, and has been developing Hypersonic Glide Vehicles, which can reach speeds up to eight times the speed of sound. Known as the “aircraft carrier killer.”