After the HMS Spey passed the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, China’s military sharply criticized the British Royal Navy, calling the patrol an “intentional provocation” that endangers regional peace and stability.
The Chinese Defense Ministry attacked the UK for “publicly hyping up” the transit and distorting legal standards in a strongly worded statement. Beijing reiterated that it sees the Taiwan Strait as inside Chinese waters and warned that Chinese troops will firmly resist all threats and provocations.
However, the UK supported the patrol as part of a long-planned, legitimate deployment; authorities said the Spey was acting in accordance with international law governing freedom of navigation. Last crossing the Strait in 2021, the HMS Spey is one of two Royal Navy boats permanently stationed in the Indo-Pacific.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the event matches the arrival in the Indo-Pacific of a UK carrier strike group, led by the HMS Prince of Wales, for an eight-month deployment—one of the Royal Navy’s biggest of the century. 4,000 British troops are involved in the operation; the team will interact with 30 regional countries, holding joint drills with the US, India, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry hailed the arrival of the HMS Spey as a crucial validation of world backing for freedom of navigation in the ever more disputed strait.
Since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, a strong opponent of Beijing, assumed power, tensions across the Taiwan Strait have soared. Lai has called China a “foreign aggressive force” and vowed to combat campaigns of Chinese influence. Beijing has answered with repeated military exercises, including live-fire drills simulating attacks on Taiwanese ports and energy infrastructure in April.
China’s disapproval of the UK follows a rare dual-carrier naval exercise in the Pacific close to Japan, causing worries in Tokyo regarding regional security dynamics.
In East Asia, where strategic moves by world powers are increasingly interpreted as tests of will and power in a region darkened by the possibility of Taiwan’s fight, this most recent episode increases the rising geopolitical tension.
