British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey in comments to the Telegraph yesterday suggested that his country is ready to fight a war in the Asia-Pacific region over Taiwan.
Healey was on board the Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales in Darwin, Australia, which is currently hosting the Australia’s largest military exercise, Talisman Sabre.
This year’s iteration, the 11th, is also the biggest in Australia’s history, with 19 nations invited to participate.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Asked by the Telegraph about a potential conflict with China over Taiwan, Healey said that “if we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together. We exercise together and by exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together.”
However, both nations would rather see conflicts resolved “peacefully” and “diplomatically,” Healey told the paper.
His remarks and the ship’s appearance in the region reinforce the sentiment that the UK is paying closer attention to maintaining peace and stability in the region, the Telegraph cited an expert as saying.
“Deterrence is about setting out the consequences that will come about as a result of other people’s dangerous or malign actions,” former British secretary of state for defence Gavin Williamson told the paper
“As threats are increasing, the partnerships like the UK and Australia matter more than ever,” Healey said.
This is the first time in 30 years that a UK naval carrier group has docked in Australia and the first time a non-US aircraft carrier has played a role in a Talisman Sabre exercise, the Telegraph said.
The ship is currently on a nine-month tour of the region, stopping in Singapore then Darwin before moving on to Tokyo, the report said, adding that it could transit the Taiwan Strait while on the way to Japan.
“We have a direct interest in the international rules, the freedom of the seas, the freedom of navigation, and the stability and security in the Indo-Pacific,” the report quotes Healey as saying regarding plans to transit the Strait.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the foreign ministers of Australia and the UK after they made a statement reiterating a “commitment to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, trade, scientific, technological and cultural fields,” and expressing “concern at China’s destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan.”
At the launch of the Talisman Sabre exercise, Australian Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones said: “I will leave it to China to interpret what 19 friends, allies and partners wanting to operate together in the region means to them, but for me ... it is nations that are in search of a common aspiration for peace, stability, a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that the US has pressured allies into planning for a conflict with China over Taiwan.
Although officials declined to make a firm commitment, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did say that his country does not “support any unilateral action” in the Taiwan Strait.
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