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HMS Richmond, a Type 23 frigate, is en route through the Taiwan Strait to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam People's Navy. Photo: HMS Richmond

Chinese military blasts UK frigate’s passage through Taiwan Strait as an ‘opportunistic’ stunt

  • HMS Richmond makes its transit between the mainland and the island less than two weeks after Britain, the US and Australia announced their Aukus alliance
  • The route, as the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier group made its way to Vietnam, shows the UK’s commitment to American Indo-Pacific policy, analysts say
The Chinese military has accused Britain of a “mentality of opportunism to undermine the stability of Taiwan Strait”, with the passage on Monday of a warship from the HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier strike group through the Taiwan Strait.
HMS Richmond, a Type 23 frigate that arrived in the Indo-Pacific region with the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, tweeted on Monday that it was passing through the narrow waterway that separates the Chinese mainland and the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

“After a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea, we are now en route through the Taiwan Strait to visit Vietnam and the Vietnamese People’s Navy,” the message said.

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command, which oversees the Taiwan Strait, said the British frigate used the transit as a “publicity stunt” to play up its military presence in the region.

“This is a bad intention to undermine the peace and stability of Taiwan Strait, fully exposing the mentality of [the British side’s] opportunism,” Shi said.

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It is the first time the Royal Navy has publicly announced a warship transit through the contentious waterway. The manoeuvre was described by defence experts as a political move to follow the historic Aukus security pact signed by Washington, London and Canberra to help Australia build nuclear-powered submarines.
Pictured in the Pacific Ocean this month are, from front to back, HNLMS Evertsen, JS Izumo, HMS Defender, HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMCS Winnipeg, JS Ise and RFA Tidespring. Photo: UK Ministry of Defence
Warships from all three countries have traversed the Taiwan Strait, while the US Navy has conducted a “routine transit” every month since early this year, a move the US 7th fleet said was to “demonstrate the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

“Compared with the US and Japan, relations between Britain and Taiwan are ordinary, making the high-profile strait transit of HMS Richmond all the more significant,” said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s naval academy.

“The transit aimed to show London’s political commitment to the US’ Taiwan policy, which aims to highlight the strategic importance of the Taiwan Strait in Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

“London is very clear that the US’ logistic support plays a key role behind the Royal Navy’s maiden voyage to the region.”

China fears Aukus is a ‘weapons grade’ loophole for non-nuclear Australia

The Richmond, which left the US Fleet Activities Sasebo base on the Japanese island of Kyushu, made the transit when the Queen Elizabeth carrier completed two weeks of maintenance, rest and rehabilitation at the US naval base in Guam.

Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Yuan Wang military science and technology institute in Beijing, said the high-profile transit by HMS Richmond had shown London’s ambition to play a more important role in the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy.

“The Royal Navy plans to send more fleets to the Asia-Pacific to meet London’s ambitions to resume Britain’s influence in the region,” Zhou said.

“London realised that the US so far doesn’t have enough warships to take care of the Far East area, so it’s a good opportunity for the Royal Navy to share the responsibility with the US’ allies like Japan [and] Australia in the region to contain a rising PLA Navy.”

Collin Koh, a research fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the Richmond’s transit had not only reflected the British government’s political position, but had also been consistent with the “reservation of the high seas for peaceful purposes” in international law.

“London is demonstrating its commitment to freedom of navigation, which is certainly a legal and political stance that’s aligned with the US and other like-minded partners in this respect,” he said.

“It’s also in line with high-seas rights and freedoms granted by Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea].”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA blasts British warship’s passage as ‘opportunistic’
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