Royal Navy Passes Through Chinese Territorial Waters - Challenged By China

Royal Navy in South China Sea: 'The British are Clearly Making a Point'

The actions of a British ship violate Chinese law and relevant international law. This is what the Chinese Foreign Ministry has stated after a British Royal Navy flagship passed through the Paracel Islands and allegedly entered Chinese territorial waters without permission. Beijing has dispatched a frigate and two helicopters to challenge it.

Sputnik has discussed this with Bill Hayton, Associate Fellow at Chatham House's Asia Program and author of "The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia."

Sputnik: In your view then why is Britain taking such measures and what complications does it bring about in the South China Sea?

Bill Hayton: I think the British are clearly making a point here. There haven't been any Royal Navy ships in the Asia-Pacific region for four years before this one mainly because of defense cuts and things back home. We need to spend money on other things, and this is mainly because the UK is building a defense relationship with Japan, wants to have a global presence in the context of Brexit as a second reason.

But I think while they're there they're making a point that they want to stand up for international rules and that basically from the British point of view, from the general consensus that ships can sail wherever they want to sail and that includes through these disputed waters.

Sputnik: Just give us a synopsis for the current situation in the South China Sea, it's obviously, one, it is interesting, and two, it is quite complex for the wider global audience. We've obviously got these islands, we've got the situation between China and Taiwan unraveling. Obviously, we got the Japanese situation. Obviously, freedom of movement along this strait as well, what's the general picture at the moment and what are the obstacles moving forward?

Bill Hayton: On the surface, things look pretty calm and stable. Nobody's fighting anybody. There are no ships bumping into one another as there have been in the past; underlying it all is the constant Chinese pressure for expansion and the other states that are claiming islands and sea zones in the sea are getting worried about this constant pressure against them, particularly, over questions of oil and gas rights.

Vietnam has certainly been pressured by China on this and other countries too. So I think we should put this voyage really in the context of that. This is the British sort of saying to other countries: We're thinking about you and we're trying to reassure you, you're not abandoned. The Taiwan question is another dynamic and you could say in some ways it is probably more important to the Chinese.

On the Japanese front things have been warming up recently between China and Japan. So it's constantly moving and I think the Chinese know that they shouldn't try press all the buttons at the same time. So maybe things are dialing down a little bit with the Japanese, and maybe they can put more pressure on the Taiwanese. It's a constantly shifting situation.