Chinese has long historical memories of British men-of-war in the South China Seas, dating back to the humiliations of the Opium Wars. But while Beijing warns London not to get engaged in the area’s complex maritime disputes, it may be getting worked up over nothing: the United Kingdom’s defense budget for 2019 appears insufficient to ensure a continuous presence by the Royal Navy in global commons.
On Monday, British finance minister Philip Hammond pledged an extra US$1.3 billion for the country’s new nuclear submarine program and the modernization of its anti-submarine warfare and offensive cyber capabilities.
However, many British leaders believe this is not nearly enough for Britannia to rule the waves. According to a recent report by the House of Commons Defense Committee, the UK needs a $25.5 billion increase in military funding to address present and future challenges. This means it is doubtful that Britain’s bellicose words about its naval deployment in the South China Sea will be matched with deeds.
More UK warships in the South China Sea
Admiral Philip Jones, the Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord, told the Financial Times last week that the British government would send more warships through the region to promote freedom of navigation. Britain is too puny to challenge China in East Asia, but the Royal Navy could give additional punch to a potential anti-China combination of Indo-Pacific forces led by the United States.
Jones’ remarks provoked a harsh response from Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on October 24 that the recent “trespassing” of a British warship into China’s territorial waters off the Xisha Islands, otherwise known as the Paracel Islands, had already damaged relations between the two countries.
The Paracels, as well as the Spratly Islands, are claimed by both China and a number of Southeast Asian nations. The Chinese want Britain to stop provocative moves in the area.
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi bluntly told his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt that UK naval operations could undermine mutual trust. The Chinese envoy urged London to respect China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and refrain from taking sides in controversies regarding the South China Sea.
UK leaders might be tempted to think that China, faced with a growing trade war with the US, will limit its reaction to the Royal Navy’s presence in East Asia to symbolic rebukes, and that bilateral relations between the two countries will not be compromised. Britain wants stronger commercial ties with Beijing to mitigate the impact of its exit from the European Union.
Admiral Jones told the Financial Times that the UK would back allies in the area and resist Chinese violations of generally accepted maritime laws. Lieutenant General Patrick Sanders, Britain’s army commander, expressed in a more veiled way the same concept while on a visit to Japan in early October.
Sanders, who was attending the first-ever joint military exercises on Japanese soil between British troops and local ground forces, stressed that “stability in Asia is essential to stability around the world and the UK is opposed to any change in the status quo by force.” Moreover, British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson has several times argued that China’s militarization of natural and artificial features in the South China Sea went against international rules.
Unbroken naval presence in the Indo-Pacific
The UK government insists it wants an “unbroken” naval presence in the Indo-Pacific area. The Royal Navy’s deployment in Southeast and East Asia is formally aimed at safeguarding strategic shipping routes vital to commerce. Britain is a trade-focused nation, and British strategists are concerned that China could interdict marine traffic through the South China Sea waterways.
Three UK warships have sailed across the Indian Ocean and Pacific waters this year. HMS Argyll, an anti-submarine frigate, is currently the only vessel in service in the vast region. It joined navies from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in Exercise Bersama Lima in the South China Sea until October 19. These Indo-Pacific countries cooperate with Britain under the Five Power Defence Agreement and have often voiced concern about China’s growing military clout.
In a demonstration of its firepower, HMS Argyll tested the new Sea Ceptor missile system during the Bersama Lima exercises. The US$1.1 billion arm platform has been operational since May, and is viewed by the Royal Navy as a powerful antidote to airborne threats, including enemy combat jets, helicopters and projectiles.
Combining forces with allies
HMS Argyll will hold maritime drills with the Japanese navy later in the year. Its successor, the future Type 26 frigate, should become a key asset of a permanent carrier strike group, and the British government plans to deploy one of its two new aircraft carriers east of Suez in the 2020s.
But even with the launch of HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, the British Navy might not be able to face both Russia’s resurgent threat in North Atlantic and China’s naval presence in the Indo-Pacific. With a shrinking defense budget and a decline in active personnel, Britain’s once might navy can now only deploy 10 submarines and 70 vessels. It will have more modern warships in the coming years, but quantitatively the fleet will remain at current levels.
Britain cannot worry China militarily unless it acts in sync with other like-minded countries. In this respect, it is deepening naval cooperation not only with the US, but also with France, Australia, India and Japan to foster free and secure access to oceans and seas in the face of China’s rapid naval expansion.
During his recent trip to Japan, Lt. General Sanders pointed out that “no nation operates alone and we want to assure Japan that they will not have to fight alone either.” The future role of the Royal Navy in the Indo-Pacific arena could indeed be that of a “support force” for front line regional navies that are more fully committed to countering China.
Ben Choong Isn’t that what I said, or do you need to hear it from the CCP to believe it ?
Ben Choong Isn’t that what I said, or do you need to hear it from the CCP to believe it ?
Chien Ting Chin Like the CCP need to distract the peasants in China of their police state ?
Chien Ting Chin Like the CCP need to distract the peasants in China of their police state ?
Yashad Rizvi Don’t be a naive fool. New Zealand, Australia, Canada and even US belongs to the same type of people ie. Anglo-Saxon. If US joined in, their stooges like Japan and S’pore will do likewise.
Yashad Rizvi Don’t be a naive fool. New Zealand, Australia, Canada and even US belongs to the same type of people ie. Anglo-Saxon. If US joined in, their stooges like Japan and S’pore will do likewise.
The entire premise of this article is wrong. Please post examples of any ‘bellicose words’ that the UK has uttered in connection with the South China Sea. The purpose – or rather one of the purposes – of UK naval deployments in the South China Sea is to maintain one of the most fundamental points of agreed international law – that all ships can sail pretty much wherever they want. China agreed this when it ratified UNCLOS in 1996. It makes use of this right when it sails warships through the English Channel or the Strait of Malacca and yet in September it tried to ram an American warship doing exactly the same thing.
The entire premise of this article is wrong. Please post examples of any ‘bellicose words’ that the UK has uttered in connection with the South China Sea. The purpose – or rather one of the purposes – of UK naval deployments in the South China Sea is to maintain one of the most fundamental points of agreed international law – that all ships can sail pretty much wherever they want. China agreed this when it ratified UNCLOS in 1996. It makes use of this right when it sails warships through the English Channel or the Strait of Malacca and yet in September it tried to ram an American warship doing exactly the same thing.
Ben Choong but who Says that whole South China Sea is your territory except China itself??
China should stop acting like a Mafia and bully behaviour against small nations
Thank you UK! Don’t stop displaying your military power over SCS. China must be stopped!
Thank you UK! Don’t stop displaying your military power over SCS. China must be stopped!
Greg Way not just us though is it, it’s the US, Australia, Japan, Singapore France South Korea and dozens of other countries.
China hasn’t laid criminal charge on Britain government for its opium smuggled into China in 1840′
China hasn’t laid criminal charge on Britain government for its opium smuggled into China in 1840′
The Tories need a foreign enemy to distract from domestic mess. Surely this will cure any residual illusion of Chinese people of Western democracies.
The Tories need a foreign enemy to distract from domestic mess. Surely this will cure any residual illusion of Chinese people of Western democracies.
China will NOT stop its developing and building the islands in SCS and China is daring you to make a fuss in there. Let’s see how the two queens and your Astutes can cope. Please don’t disappoint us!
China will NOT stop its developing and building the islands in SCS and China is daring you to make a fuss in there. Let’s see how the two queens and your Astutes can cope. Please don’t disappoint us!
Lance Larsen Who is more warlike behaviors? How you feel if certain groups of gangters comec to your neighborhood and practicing how to invade your home in the name of ”wargames”? Sure you won’t like it and need to do something. Well, that is exactly what Russia and China are doing ie. chase them out or prepare for war.
Lance Larsen Who is more warlike behaviors? How you feel if certain groups of gangters comec to your neighborhood and practicing how to invade your home in the name of ”wargames”? Sure you won’t like it and need to do something. Well, that is exactly what Russia and China are doing ie. chase them out or prepare for war.