CHINA has slammed the UK after a Royal Navy warship cruised through the Taiwan Strait in a defiant message to Xi Jinping.
blasted HMS Spey’s patrol through the passage, branding it a disruptive act of “intentional provocation”; that “undermines peace and stability”;.
The British said the route was part of a long-planned deployment and in accordance with international law.
The bold patrol was the first by a in four years.
A Chinese navy spokesperson hit back at HMS Spey’s route, and blasted the UK for “publicly hyping up”; the journey.
They added the UK’s claims were “a distortion of legal principles and an attempt to mislead the public”;.
And in a , they said that would respond and “resolutely counter all threats and provocations”; made by HMS Spey.
Meanwhile, Taiwan praised the patrol as an act that safeguarded the freedom of navigation in the highly disputed strait.
US warships regularly conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the strait.
But the last time a British naval vessel made a journey like this was in 2021 when HMS Richmond was deployed from to .
China, much like this time round, condemned the transit and sent troops to monitor the ship.
HMS Spey is one of two British warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific region.
China slammed the route as a means of aggression amid the ongoing simmering tension between Taipei and Beijing.
Taiwan insists it is an independent nation after splitting from mainlandamid civil war in 1949.
But remains a part of its territorywith which it must eventually be reunified – and has not ruled out the use of force to take the island and place it under Beijing’s control.
The island, which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China, sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan and held multiple large-scale exercises around the island, often described as preparations for a blockade or invasion.
China also claims almost the entire disputed waterway in the South China Sea – through which more than 60 per cent of global maritime trade passes.
This is despite an international ruling that Beijing’s assertion has no merit.
In April, Xi Jinping launched a .
Beijingdescribed their concerning movements, which included 19 warships and 50 aircraft, as a “stern warning”; and a “powerful deterrent againstindependence”;.
And in May, satellite pictures showed that to a tiny but vital island sea base.
Aerial photos showed two hulking H-6 bombers on an airfield on Woody Island in the South China Sea, taken on May 19.
Taiwan’s economy is another factor in China’s desperation to reclaim the land.
If China takes the island, it could be freer to projectpowerin the western Pacific and rival the US, thanks to much of the world’s electronics being made in Taiwan.
This would allow Beijing to have control over an industry that drives the global economy.
China insists that its intentions are peaceful, but Presidenthas also used threats towards the small island nation.
In this years New Year’s address, President Xi even said that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.
He has previously called the independence of Taiwan a futile effort and that annexation by Beijing is a “historical inevitability”;.
It comes as a UK carrier strike group arrives in the region as part of Operation Highmast which is set to last several months.
said it was aimed at “sending a clear message of strength to our adversaries, and a message of unity and purpose to our allies”;.
