吴敏文
By Wu Minwen
英国政府于2020年10月决定组成“伊丽莎白女王”号航母编队前往南海地区开展所谓“自由航行”,全程总航程4.8万公里，被称为“马岛战争以来英国最大的舰艇编队”的最远行程、最大规模全球部署。10月11日，英国“伊丽莎白女王”号航母停靠新加坡樟宜海军基地。
The British government decided in October 2020 to send a carrier strike group, led by its HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, to the South China Sea for the so-called “freedom of navigation”. The 48,000km voyage was called the longest and largest-scale deployment of Britain’s largest vessel fleet since the Falklands War, and the carrier stopped at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base on October 11.
作为曾经建立“日不落帝国”的老牌殖民和帝国主义国家，英国具有深厚的军事和外交战略文化。今年3月，英国政府发布了长达111页的《安全、防务、发展和外交政策综合评估报告》，全面描绘了英国对自己未来10年在世界舞台所扮演角色的评估，意图在脱离欧盟后塑造“全球英国”的形象，但不少人认为其“抱负与能力”之间存在差距。
As an old colonial and imperialist country where the sun used to never set, Britain has long-standing military and diplomatic culture. In March this year, the British government released the 111-page Global Britain in a Competitive Age – The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, which comprehensively described the role that the UK expects itself to play on the world stage in the next decade and revealed its intention to create an image of “Global Britain” after Brexit. But many pointed out the gap between its ambition and ability.
仔细检视“伊丽莎白女王”号航母编队的组建及环球行程，会发现其在很多地方暴露出衰落帝国外强中干的本质。英国皇家海军现役力量仅航母两艘，因为“威尔士亲王”号去年发生漏水事故，此次远航的任务只能落在“伊丽莎白女王”号肩上。
A closer look at the fleet and the global voyage of the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group exposes plenty of signs of a declining empire. The British Royal Navy has only two aircraft carriers in service now, but as the HMS Prince of Wales had a water leak incident last year, the oceangoing mission falls on HMS Queen Elizabeth.
舰载机是航母的核心战斗力所在，“伊丽莎白女王”号航母列编舰载机满载为40架，英国皇家海军全力以赴仅拼凑出18架F-35B，而且其中仅有8架来自英国皇家空军，其余10架则来自美国海军陆战队的“友情赞助”。
Carrier-borne aircraft represent the core combat force of aircraft carriers. HMS Queen Elizabeth is able to bear 40 fighter jets, but the British Royal Navy scraped only 18 F-35Bs, with only eight from the British Royal Air Force whereas the rest were sponsored by the US Marine Corps.
此外，“伊丽莎白女王”号航母编队此次经地中海、苏伊士运河、红海至印度洋，而不是绕道非洲好望角，固然有节省行程的考虑。但是，从其“保卫者”号驱逐舰绕道黑海接近克里米亚来看，显然有重温旧梦的考虑。为了与俄国争夺在欧洲大陆的霸权，1853年至1856年英法与俄罗斯之间发生了克里米亚战争，英法获得了胜利。约翰逊政府精心策划、周密准备的此次远航，怎么能遏制住重温历史辉煌的冲动？
The HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group followed the route through the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean this time rather than by the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. This is partly to shorten the journey and save time and cost, but the fact that its destroyer HMS Defender approached Crimea via the Black Sea also indicated the old empire’s yearning for past glory. To contend with Russia for domination on the European continent, Britain and France fought and won the Crimean War (1853-1856) with Russia. With such a carefully planned and prepared long journey, how can the Johnson administration contain its urge to relive, even for a moment, that glorious period?
6月23日，“伊丽莎白女王”号航母编队中“保卫者”号驱逐舰进入黑海，甚至一度闯入克里米亚12海里范围内，俄战机向该舰方向发射实弹，“保卫者”号知难而退。对此，英国外交大臣拉布说“俄方只是在进行海上射击演习，恰巧遇到了‘保卫者’号”。但是，随舰采访的媒体和俄罗斯国防部公布的视频都证明了英方的说法属于掩耳盗铃。
On June 23, the destroyer HMS Defender in the carrier strike group entered the Black Sea and intruded into 12 nautical miles of Crimea at one time. Russian fighter jets fired in its direction and drove it away. British foreign minister Dominic Raab explained that the Russian side was just having a shooting exercise on the sea and they happened to come across the Defender, but his remarks were soon belied by reporters coming along onboard the destroyer and by the video released by Russian Defense Ministry.
拜登大力推动北约盟国加入“印太战略”以来，欧洲各国反应不一。今年，法国派出“西北风”级两栖攻击舰等与美、日、印、澳在孟加拉湾举行军演，但法军总参谋长弗朗索瓦•勒库安特明确表示，法国绝对不能陷入中美对抗之中。德国更是仅派出一艘小型护卫舰到太平洋做了一次有名无实的航行。只有已退出欧盟的英国，派出了“伊丽莎白女王”号航母编队，还与美澳组成了AUKUS联盟。
European countries have responded differently to Biden’s urge for NATO allies to join its “Indo-Pacific strategy”. This year, France assigned its Mistral-class amphibious assault ship to participate in the military exercise at the Bay of Bengal alongside the US, Japan, India and Australia, but French Chief of Defense Staff General Francois Lecointre made it clear that France would never put itself in the middle of the China-US confrontation. Germany only sent a small frigate to the Pacific Ocean just for appearance. Britain, which is no longer a member of the EU, dispatched the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group and formed the AUKUS with the US and Australia.
然而，英国的企图是想借美国的“印太战略”拓展和深化自己在印太地区的利益，但是即使是在盟友之间，“蛋糕”的分配原则也只能是实力、作为决定利益和地位。美国给“伊丽莎白女王”号航母提供舰载机，为的是让英国为美国冲锋陷阵，而不是让美国为英国所用。
Although Britain wants to expand and consolidate its interests in the region through America’s “Indo-Pacific strategy”, the principle of cutting the pie remains the same even among allies – strength decides interests and position. The US provided carrier-borne aircraft for Britain’s carrier strike group in order to make Britain the vanguard of serving America’s strategy rather than the other way round.
绑定与美国的所谓特殊关系，是英国脱欧后实现“全球英国”野心的既定战略。但是，不管“伊丽莎白女王”号航母编队接下来还有哪些“演出节目”，它的“跟班”地位在出发前就已经注定了。
Cementing the special relationship with the US is the strategy Britain has set for itself to realize its ambition to become a "global Britain" in the post-Brexit age. However, no matter what show the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group will put on in the coming days, the country's position as a footman was determined even before the group set sail.
Editor's Note: This article is originally published on the cyol.com, and 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.
