- Sputnik International, 1920
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier to Keep Away from Taiwan Strait to Avoid China Tensions, Report Says

HMS Queen Elizabeth - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.04.2021
Subscribe
The HMS Queen Elizabeth maiden voyage will finish with joint exercises with the Japanese and American military.

The Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier strike group will take a route through the South China Sea, but will not sail through the Taiwan Strait.

The aircraft carrier will instead go east, making its way up to Japan for the final section of the trip to avoid possible tensions with China, The Telegraph reported.

The ship will sail through the Suez Canal and past Singapore and is planned to arrive in the region this summer.

The ship might deploy on its maiden voyage as early as Sunday, 23 May, The Telegraph reported, citing sources.

An F-35B takes off from the HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time - Sputnik International, 1920, 16.12.2019
Videos: HMS Queen Elizabeth Launches First F-35 Stealth Aircraft

Senior Tories criticised the planned route, the outlet said, with former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith saying the Government and Royal Navy “need to rethink this journey”. “They need to complete this process by letting the Chinese know that they disapprove of their very aggressive actions against their neighbours by sailing through the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

Chairman of the Defence Select Committee Tobias Ellwood said that the “purpose” of the carrier strike group’s journey to the Indo-Pacific “is to stand up to the authoritarianism of China”.

“Many will wonder how a carrier visit to the South China Sea will alter China’s behaviour. Clearly it won’t and instead, we are altering our behaviour,” he said.

China considers Taiwan as a breakaway province that should be reunified with the mainland, and Chinese authorities often protest strongly if someone suggests otherwise.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала