Britain and the United States sing and provoking China?
Recently, Britain and the United States not only made frequent moves around Chinese territory, but also senior officials have successively "fired" China in a high-profile manner, and the two sides sang together, which made Chinese and foreign media busy.
16, the British and American navies held their first joint maritime exercise in the South China Sea.
According to Reuters , the exercise took place between the 11th and 16th. Communications drills and other exercises were conducted by the USS McCampbell, a USS Royal Frigate stationed in Japan and the USS Argyle, a British Royal frigate, which is visiting Asia, to "to deal with security priorities of common concern."
A U.S. Navy spokesman said that the two navies have not held such joint exercises in the waters since at least 2010.
(Mcampbell, Wikipedia)
In October last year, shortly after British warships broke into Xisha Islands , was driven away by the Chinese Navy in accordance with the law and made solemn representations to the British side by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The UK's First Maritime Secretary Jones once said that although the UK's efforts to exercise "freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea were accused of being a "provocative act", the UK will continue this action. The UK has an obligation to show "actual support" for its allies in the Asia-Pacific region and resist China's "contempt" of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Also in that month, the British-led member states of the "Five-Nation Joint Defense" held a joint military exercise in the South China Sea. Among them, the British sent to participate in the exercise was the "HMS Argyll" frigate, which had just been jointly exercised with the US military.
(The British naval frigate "Agyre" (Central) participated in the "Five-Nation Solidarity" joint military exercise in October)
And on the same day that the UK and the United States disclosed the news of the first joint military exercise in (16th) , US Vice President Pence "fired fire" at China again when he delivered a speech at the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference held by the US State Department.
Pence stressed that The United States will continue to be committed to the freedom and openness of the Indo-Pacific region, support freedom of navigation in global waters, and allow all countries to enjoy freedom of navigation and open trade.
Does this sound similar? That's right, it's no different from the aforementioned British Secretary of Maritime Affairs Jones, and it's in the name of "freedom of navigation".
(Pence delivered a speech at the US State Department's ambassador meeting, Observer.com)
This is not over. As soon as Pence finished speaking, the US Navy made another big news.
18, US Navy Secretary of Operations Richardson claimed that , despite China's military technology progress, the US Navy does not rule out sending an aircraft carrier through Taiwan Strait . Richardson told reporters in Japan that the United States does not feel that it is sending any restrictions on which type of warship it is sending to the Taiwan Strait. Sending US aircraft carriers through the Taiwan Strait is still the option of the US Navy.
In 2018, the United States sent warships through the Taiwan Strait three times. However, because the strategic significance of aircraft carriers is different from other warships, the US military has not sent aircraft carriers through this sea area for 10 years. This time, Richardson released this topic in a high-profile manner, which is equivalent to reactivate the sensitive option of "aircraft carriers crossing the Taiwan Strait" that has been sleeping for ten years, becoming an open question.
It means it is like saying hello to the Chinese side: I have reminded you. What is even more provocative is that Richardson's above remarks were made after just ending his trip to China.
(US Secretary of Navy Operations Richardson, Reuters)
From joint military exercises to the US Vice President and the top figures of the two countries' naval forces successively made harsh words on the same argument, Britain and the United States are singing and provoking China's gunpowder smell has become stronger.
The British army plans a new base and Australia spends money to buy warships
In recent years, the "British and American Allied Forces" have done things in the South China Sea no longer have been sporadic actions, but have shown a certain systematic and conventional trend.
html In early October, the author just wrote a comment that British Secretary of Defense Gavin Williamson revealed to the " Daily Telegraph " that Britain plans to add two new military bases in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean in the future to increase the British military's overseas military presence after Brexit.
At that time, the United States CNN quickly followed up, and pointed out that the establishment of a military base in the South China Sea was not a far-fetched idea, and it might even kill two birds with one stone: it can not only help the arms business, but also cooperate with the United States' "Indo-Pacific Strategy" and consolidate the relationship between Britain and the United States.
In that analysis, CNN author Lendon believes that the British Defense Minister’s proposal to build a new base in the South China Sea was actually a sign of goodwill to the United States. He said: "Sailing like British warships is a 'conventional action' of the US Navy in the South China Sea, and Washington has always encouraged its allies to join this action to relieve the pressure on the US military." Therefore, "assuming that the UK builds or expands its military base in Singapore , this action will definitely be welcomed by the US side. After all, the United States is the UK's number one military ally."
There are also Chinese scholars answering In an interview with the South China Morning Post, he said: "This vision of the UK can be regarded as a supplement to the US' Indo-Pacific strategy, and the United States will definitely be happy."
Not only that, as the world's sixth largest arms exporter, the UK's arms business in Asia is booming. includes Saudi , Kuwait , Oman , India and Australia are all "big buyers". Australia spent about $26 billion last year to purchase nine British-designed anti-submarine frigates, the world's largest naval defense contract in a decade, and its huge profit shocked the international media. Therefore, once builds a new military base in Southeast Asia, the UK can also use it as a "overseas arms exhibition platform to further stimulate weapons exports. Australia, India and other countries that have a huge demand for the UK's arms are important members of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy".
UK and Japan's aircraft carrier ambitions
In addition, while US Navy Minister Richardson released the issue of aircraft carriers entering the Taiwan Strait, Britain and Japan also quietly started to join the "Pacific aircraft carrier club", which was highly consistent with the United States.
As early as 2016, A report from the Global Network pointed out that is aware of the increasing importance of Asia to global security, and the British army will also "return to Asia". At that time, a senior diplomat said that two new British aircraft carriers will have combat capabilities in a few years, and they will "cruise in the Pacific."
This diplomat refers to two newly built Queen-class aircraft carriers in the UK. It was expected to be put into service in about 2020, and now it is 2019.
It is really a "big day" on the 16th of this month. In addition to the British-US South China Sea military exercises and Pence criticized China, Japanese defense minister Iwaya, who is visiting the United States, also delivered a speech in Washington.
In this speech, Iwaya Tsune not only reiterated the significance of modifying the two " Izumo " class frigates of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces to become aircraft carriers, but also stated that the "Special Force in the Space Field" of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force will be established by 2022, and intends to seek close cooperation with the "Space Command" strived to form by the Trump administration in the United States.
Based on the new "Defense Plan Outline" formulated in December 2018, the Japanese Defense Minister repeatedly emphasized the significance of strengthening the US-Japan military alliance.
(Japanese Defense Minister Iwaya Tsune, CCTV.com)
UK and Japan have no concealed. With its own aircraft carrier ambition, its "leader" the United States has made a high-profile hype about "aircraft carriers passing Taiwan". If the British and Japanese aircraft carriers enter the Pacific in the future and form a trend of echoing the US military, it will be like a joint mobile combat platform at the doorstep of China.
"Five-Nation Joint Defense" + "Indo-Pacific Strategy", checks and balances China's new network?
In fact, the United Kingdom does not belong to the "Asia-Pacific" in geopolitical terms, and the United States' "Indo-Pacific Strategy" is also mainly designed for the United States, Japan, Australia and India, and it does not include the United Kingdom.
However, Britain, which is struggling in Brexit, seems to have a force that misses the past glory of the "Empire that the Sun Will Not Set", which is most clearly reflected in the military.When he proposed to build a new base in the South China Sea, British Defense Secretary Williamson said: "This (Brexit) is a good opportunity for the UK to become a true global player again, and I think military forces will play an extremely important role in it."
(screenshot of the Daily Telegraph report)
Of course, British people will not be stupid enough to think they are as strong as they were back then. Their "return to Asia" has a great degree of hope and also needs to cooperate with the United States. The old foundation left by Britain in Asia is the "Five-National Joint Defense". The so-called "Five Power Defense Arrangements" (FPDA) is actually a military security organization established between five Commonwealth countries led by the United Kingdom. The member states include the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand , Malaysia and Singapore. Since the signing of the agreement in 1971, this organization has remained an active force that cannot be ignored in the Western Pacific.
In order to support the "Five-Nation Joint Defense", the UK has a naval maintenance and logistics support facility at the Sembawang Pier in northern Singapore. In addition, the UK also has its only military base in Asia in Brunei - the "Brunei Fortress" stationed by British Forces Brunei (BFB). Therefore, these two countries are also regarded as popular locations for the "New South China Sea Base" proposed by the British Defense Minister.
(the country where the British military's facilities are located and the overseas territories, Singapore and Brunei are important hubs in Asia, Wikipedia screenshot)
It is not difficult to find that the coverage is highly overlapping. Among them, Australia, which purchased British warships in large quantities, is not only the "vanguard" of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" and the second largest member of the "Five-National Joint Defense".
(Indo-Pacific Strategy Schematic, China Times Electronic News)
Based on the recent situation, it is true that the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" has not yet been fully formed, and the concept of aircraft carriers between Britain and Japan cannot be easily realized. However, it is an indisputable fact that Britain, the United States and even their allies are increasingly closely cooperating against China in the Asia-Pacific region. Although it will not regress to the era of "encirclement", it is not nonsense to "check and balance" China's new network is slowly unfolding.
In this regard, in addition to maintaining basic strategic determination and doing a good job in risk control, China also needs to prepare for the future and avoid being strategically passive.
