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China on a war footing in sight of UK's near-term plan to deploy new HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier to contested maritime area
By RICHARD JAVAD HEYDARIANJANUARY 8, 2021
A British naval officer looks up at the fluttering White ensign flag hoisted at the stern during the Commissioning Ceremony for the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base in Portsmouth, southern England on December 7, 2017. Photo: AFP/Richard Pohle
Fresh off a hard-fought Brexit deal with Brussels, the United Kingdom has immediately plunged itself into the center of Asian geopolitics and on a maritime collision course with China.
Touting itself as “a global power with truly global interest”, the UK has announced the successful initial test of the newly-launched aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, its largest warship on record.
Having achieved initial operational capacity, the UK’s flagship Carrier Strike Group — centered on the 65,000-tonne carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth with state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, frigates and destroyers — can now be deployed within just five days of initial notice for any global contingency.
Regional media reports suggest that Asia’s contested waters, including the South China Sea, will be its first major area of deployment in the coming months.
At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the country’s armed forces to maintain “full-time combat readiness” and “act at any second” in response to external threats amid Western powers’ “flexing muscles.”
asiatimes.com
By RICHARD JAVAD HEYDARIANJANUARY 8, 2021
Fresh off a hard-fought Brexit deal with Brussels, the United Kingdom has immediately plunged itself into the center of Asian geopolitics and on a maritime collision course with China.
Touting itself as “a global power with truly global interest”, the UK has announced the successful initial test of the newly-launched aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, its largest warship on record.
Having achieved initial operational capacity, the UK’s flagship Carrier Strike Group — centered on the 65,000-tonne carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth with state-of-the-art F-35 stealth fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, frigates and destroyers — can now be deployed within just five days of initial notice for any global contingency.
Regional media reports suggest that Asia’s contested waters, including the South China Sea, will be its first major area of deployment in the coming months.
At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the country’s armed forces to maintain “full-time combat readiness” and “act at any second” in response to external threats amid Western powers’ “flexing muscles.”
‘Global Britain’ takes aim at China in South China Sea
Fresh off a hard-fought Brexit deal with Brussels, the United Kingdom has immediately plunged itself into the center of Asian geopolitics and on a maritime collision course with China. Touting itse…
asiatimes.com
