UK's new South China Sea policy reeks of stale colonialism

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Li Jiayao
Time
2021-07-29 10:08:16

By Wu Shicun

According to the information recently released by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), UK’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was heading toward the South China Sea on July 25. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said in a recent interview with Japanese media in Tokyo that the carrier strike group will sail through disputed waters of the South China Sea and will join a military exercise in the Philippine Sea alongside with navies of Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, ROK and the US. Wallace even claimed that the UK plans to deploy two military vessels in the Asian waters permanently since the second half of this year.

If the British navy indeed entered the disputed waters, it would be the second time that a British military vessel publicly challenged China’s rights and assertions in the South China Sea after its amphibious transport dock HMS Albion illegally entered the Chinese territorial sea in the Xisha Islands on August 31, 2018.

In fact, the latest voyage of British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth is not simply what London calls a crossing of South China Sea waters in accordance with international law, but is a carefully planned trick serving multiple purposes.

First, it is throwing in its lot with the US by crossing the so-called “disputed waters” of the South China Sea. It’s no secret that the UK has been acting in complicity with the US on the South China Sea issue, closely following its lead and dancing to its tune. From a geopolitical perspective, post-Brexit Britain needs to hold on to the US to keep itself from “diplomatic isolation” and jump on the American wagon of “Indo-Pacific strategy” to return to the global stage. The South China Sea issue, which is seen by Washington as an important tool to curb China’s maritime development, is naturally taken by the UK as a tribute it can pay to the US to show its allegiance.

Second, it is probing the way to project its maritime forces to the Asia-Pacific. The UK released the report Global Britain in a Competitive Age: the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy in March this year, allegedly the most comprehensive report since the end of the Cold War. It announced the country’s diplomatic and military strategies tilted toward the Indo-Pacific region and vowed to reshape its influence in the broad Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea. Britain’s intentions cannot be more obvious as it, still overwhelmed by the pandemic, hurriedly dispatched the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier strike group that had just been fixed to regain “primary combat capabilities” to sail into the South China Sea escorted by American and Dutch vessels on such a high profile.

Third, it is challenging China’s rights and assertions in the South China Sea while re-dreaming the colonial dream. The South China Sea was a symbol of Britain’s glorious colonial past, through which the old-time empire that prided itself on its worldwide colonies shipped back the fortune and treasures it plundered in Asia. Britain is obviously still clinging to that period, as fully exposed by its ambitious plan to keep a permanent military presence in the South China Sea and the Asia Pacific.

Motivated by the desire to retrieve past glory, the ambition to reshape its global influence, and the instigation of the US, it is not impossible for the UK to do something in the South China Sea to please the US and impress the world.

The timing of Queen Elizabeth entering the South China Sea, the information released by the British government, and the carrier’s agenda items – everything is clearly targeted at China.

As the real owner of the South China Sea islands and the biggest country on its coast, China respects the freedom of navigation enjoyed by the British aircraft carrier in the South China Sea under international law. But if it dares to enter 12 nautical miles of Nansha Islands and trespasses our territorial sea of the Xisha Islands, China must take strong countermeasures to make it pay, hence forestalling other countries from following suit and making similar provocations.

Moreover, China needs to prevent the US and UK (perhaps also Japan, France, Australia and more countries) from colluding militarily and forming a long-standing presence in the South China Sea, and guard against China-targeting subjects during the multi-party military exercise to be held in the Philippine Sea.

(The author is President of China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies and chairman of board of directors of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea)

Editor's note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com. The article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.

 

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