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| The HMS Queen Elizabeth is part of the UK Carrier Strike Group sailing through the South China Sea. (Photo by= PA Media) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] China has warned the UK's Carrier Strike Group, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth not to carry out any "improper acts" while entering the contested South China Sea, BBC reported.
'The People's Liberation Army Navy is at a high state of combat readiness, says the pro-government Global Times, seen as a mouthpiece for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China has been closely monitoring the progress eastward of the Carrier Strike Group, which is now sailing through the South China Sea en route to Japan while accusing Britain of "still living in its colonial days". Contrary to a 2016 international court ruling, China claims much of that sea as its own.
The Royal Navy has been carrying out exercises with the Singaporean navy and Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has made no secret of the intention to conduct a so-called "Freedom of Navigation" exercise through the South China Sea.
The deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth and its escort ships to East Asia is seen as part of the British government's bid to play a more prominent role in global security, as set out in the government's recent Integrated Review. France, too, like other European nations, has been turning its attention towards the South China Sea as China's growing military and economic power appears unstoppable.
