HMS Queen Elizabeth will steer clear of provoking China on first major voyage

[TerrexLee]

The Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier strike group will take a controversial route to avoid provoking China on her first major voyage, The Telegraph can reveal.

Although HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail through the South China Sea, a vital shipping route which Beijing has become increasingly assertive over in recent years, she will not sail through the Taiwan Strait, instead going east as she makes her way up to Japan for the final section of the trip.

However, the decision not to sail the £3 billion warship through the strait on a voyage that will focus on freedom of navigation operations, has raised eyebrows due to Beijing’s vow to annex Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said the Government and Royal Navy “need to rethink this journey”.

He said: “I'm pleased the Aircraft Carrier is deploying in the South China Sea but 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. I hope they will revisit their schedule, and ensure that this happens.”

More at https://sg.news.yahoo.com/hms-queen-elizabeth-steer-clear-182726394.html

 

[Hypocrite-The]

The British carrier? Wats that?

 

[tanwahtiu]

Given military budget to spend might as well spend it in SCS, their water based burial ground... no coffin needed...

 

[red amoeba]

Later one dongfeng middle send queen e to join prince Philip

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Queen Elizabeth Class (CVF)
UK CVF Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are the largest warships ever constructed in the country.

Overall Length

284m

Expand

HMS Queen Elizabeth entered service in December 2017. Credit: Royal Navy.
HMS Queen Elizabeth entered service in December 2017. Credit: Royal Navy.
Both carriers are expected to have a service life of up to 50 years. Credit: Royal Navy.
Both carriers are expected to have a service life of up to 50 years. Credit: Royal Navy.
HMS Prince of Wales was commissioned in December 2019. Credit: Royal Navy.
HMS Prince of Wales was commissioned in December 2019. Credit: Royal Navy.
The carrier is installed with the Phalanx CIWS close-in weapons system. Credit: Royal Navy.
The carrier is installed with the Phalanx CIWS close-in weapons system. Credit: Royal Navy.
UK CVF Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are the largest warships ever constructed in the country.

CVF displaces 65,000t, a size between the US 100,000t Nimitz Class and the French 43,000t Charles de Gaulle Class aircraft carriers, and three times larger than the 20,000t UK Invincible Class carriers.

The carrier has a maximum speed of 25k. At 15k, the range is 10,000nm and the ship carries food and fuel for an endurance of seven days between replenishments. Each ship can accommodate a minimum crew of up to 700, extending to 1,600 with aircraft onboard.

The CVF Integrated Project Team managed the procurement programme on behalf of the Ministry of Defence Procurement Executive. The construction of the carriers began with the first steel cut in Govan at the BVT shipyard in July 2009.

HMS Queen Elizabeth was officially christened by The Queen in July 2014 and entered service in December 2017.

The HMS Prince of Wales sailed into its homeport of Portsmouth Naval Base for the first time in November 2019. The ship was commissioned in December 2019. The two aircraft carriers are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2020.

Six British shipbuilding yards played a significant role in the ships’ design and construction, and over 10,000 people were involved in the programme to deliver the aircraft carriers.

Queen Elizabeth Class contractors and Future Carrier Alliance details
In January 2003 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced that the preferred prime contractor for the UK future aircraft carrier is BAE Systems with Thales UK as the key supplier. The industrial partnership between BAE Systems and Thales UK is known as the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.

Babcock and VT Group joined the alliance in 2005. VT Group later sold its shipbuilding operation to BAE Systems, while the remaining support and training unit was acquired by Babcock.

In February 2005, Kellogg, Brown & Root UK (KBR) was appointed as preferred ‘physical integrator’ for the project and was responsible for developing the optimum manufacturing strategy. The company was not a part of the alliance for the manufacturing phase.

In April 2006, contracts were placed with alliance members KBR, BAE Systems Naval Ships, Thales UK, VT Group, Babcock and BAE Systems Insyte for the demonstration phase design contracts.

“UK CVF Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are the largest warships ever constructed in the country.”
In July 2007, the UK MOD announced main gate approval for the construction of the carriers. At the same time, BAE Systems and VT Group announced the planned creation of a joint venture for the design, manufacture and support of UK surface warships. The joint venture company, called BVT Surface Fleet, began operations on 1 July 2008. It was followed on 3 July 2008 by the UK MOD signing the contracts for the two carriers with BVT and other members of the alliance.

In March 2008, Brand-Rex Limited of Scotland was contracted to provide blown-fibre-optic cable plant (BFOCP) technology. Installation and project management services for the £3m-plus contract were provided by Alfred-McAlpine – IT Services. Fluid Transfer International won a £4m contract to install aviation fuel systems equipment. Salt Separation Services was chosen to provide reverse osmosis equipment as part of a contract worth more than £1m. The equipment will provide 500t of fresh water daily for the personnel onboard. In February 2008, Babcock was awarded a £35m contract for the dockyard modifications required. It purchased the largest crane in the UK, called the Goliath in 2011.

Major contractors include BAE Systems – prime contractor; Thales Naval Ltd – key supplier; BAE Systems Insyte (formerly Alenia Marconi Systems) – C4IS; BMT Defence Systems – naval architecture; EDS – systems integration, fleet support, through life support; Lockheed Martin – programme management and engineering; QinetiQ – computer modelling and simulation, technology, test and evaluation; Rolls-Royce – propulsion, life support; Strachan & Henshaw – waste management, munitions handling; Swan Hunter – construction; VT Group – naval architecture, construction, through-life support.

CVF hull configured for STOVL operations
The Maritime Group at QinetiQ developed a suite of advanced modelling and simulation programmes that were used by the QinetiQ and DPA teams with BAE Systems and the major contractors to characterise the hull, flight deck, hangar deck, internal carrier design and other features.

The hull designs are planned for 50-year service life and are configured with a ski ramp for short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) operations. The carrier’s service life is substantially longer than the 20-year service life of the selected F-35 STOVL carrier aircraft. The hull is nine-decks-deep plus the flight deck. Tata Steel supplied 40,000t of steel, making up for over 90% of the steel used in the build.

Supporting joint combat aircraft operations
The carrier will support joint combat aircraft, carrying out up to 420 sorties over five days and will be able to conduct day and night time operations. The maximum sortie rate is 110 joint combat aircraft sorties in 24 hours.

The standard air group of 40 aircraft includes 36 Lockheed Martin F-35B joint strike fighter, and four EH101 Merlin helicopter. It can also include other maritime surveillance and control aircraft (MASC).

The maximum launch rate is 24 aircraft in 15 minutes and the maximum recovery rate is 24 aircraft in 24 minutes.

The MASC assessment phase for an airborne early warning aircraft to succeed the Sea King ASaC mk7 helicopter was launched in September 2005. In May 2006, three study contracts were awarded for MASC platform and mission systems options. The contracts were awarded to Lockheed Martin UK to study the potential of using the Merlin with AEW mission systems, AgustaWestland to study maintaining the Sea King ASaC mk7 to 2017 and Thales UK to study upgrading the Sea King’s mission systems.

In July 2006, two further study contracts for the enhanced manned rotary-wing solution were awarded to EADS Defence & Security Systems UK and Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems.

The aircraft carrier’s hangar deck, 155m x 33.5m x 6.7m to 10m high, can accommodate up to 20 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.

According to the contracts placed in September 2008, Babcock supplied the highly mechanised weapons handling system (HMWHS) and BAE Systems Insyte air traffic control system for the two vessels.

Advantages of the two-island configuration on the Royal Navy carriers
Instead of a traditional single island, a current ship design has two smaller islands. The forward island is for ship control functions and the aft (FLYCO) island is for flying control.

Advantages of the two-island configuration are increased flight deck area, reduced air turbulence over the flight deck and increased flexibility of space allocation in the lower decks. The flight control centre in the aft island is in the optimum position for control of the critical aircraft approach and deck landings.

The radar fit includes the Insyte Artisan 3D Radar. The ship’s main radar was added on top of her forward island in 2013.

Aircraft carrier deck, supporting simultaneous launch and recovery operations
The deck can support simultaneous launch and recovery operations. The deck is fitted with a 13° bow deck ski jump.

No catapult or arresters were fitted in the initial build but the carrier is built to accommodate a future back-fit. The carrier is fitted with a steam catapult or electromagnetic launch system and arrester gear if the option to convert the carrier to the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant proceeds.

The deck has three runways: two shorter runways of approximately 160m for the STOVL joint strike fighter and a long runway, approximately 260m over the full length of the carrier, for launching heavily loaded aircraft – an area of nearly 13,000m². The deck has one or two vertical landing pads for the F-35 aircraft towards the stern of the ship.

Jet blast deflectors are fitted on each runway 160m back from the bow ski jump and probably in line with the rear wall of the first island. The deflectors protect the deck from the blast of the F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft engines, operating at maximum thrust for take-off.

There are two large 70t-load deck-edge aircraft lifts, built by McTaggart Scott of Loanhead, Scotland, to transfer aircraft between the hangar and flight decks, one between the islands and one to the aft of the FLYCO island.

QinetiQ and the US Navy carried out a study on an electromagnetic catapult launcher. Early studies indicated that a 300ft-long, 90MW linear motor would be needed for the CVF aircraft carriers, but both the MOD and UK industry would wish to see the results of demonstrations and trials of electromagnetic launcher technology before considering the selection of a launch system.

A number of hull armour features such as the armoured bulkheads and the side armour plates were dropped from the original project design due to budget constraints. The ship’s present hull design enables a future upgrade to accommodate a catapult launch system.

Systems on Queen Elizabeth Class, including medium-range radar (MRR)
The carrier is installed with the Phalanx CIWS close-in weapons system, a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun to defeat anti-ship missiles and other close-in threats.

Selex Communications was awarded the production contract for the vessels’ identification friend or foe (IFF) systems in October 2007.

The Queen Elizabeth Class is fitted with the Royal Navy’s new-generation maritime medium-range radar (MRR) to replace the type 996 surveillance and target indication radar. In August 2008, BAE Systems Insyte (with Qinetiq) ARTISAN 3D E/F-band radar was selected for the MRR.

Carrier propulsion system based on Rolls-Royce’s IEP technology
The MOD decided not to use nuclear propulsion because of its high cost and chose a podded propulsion system based on Rolls-Royce’s integrated electric propulsion (IEP) system. The contract for the propulsion system was awarded in October 2008.

The propulsion system consists of two Rolls-Royce Marine 36MW MT30 gas turbine alternators, providing over 70MW, and four diesel engines, providing approximately 40MW, with the total installed power approaching 110MW.

The gas turbines and diesel engines are the largest supplied to the Royal Navy, their combined power feeds the low-voltage system and supplies two tandem electric propulsion motors that drive a conventional twin-shaft arrangement, fitted with fixed-pitch propellers.

In December 2007, the UK MOD placed a contract with Wartsila Defence for two 12-cylinder and two 16-cylinder Wartsila 38 diesel engines for the IEP of each ship.

L-3 Communications supplied the integrated platform management system, Converteam high-voltage system and propulsion converters / motors.

CVF has two bronze propellers, each 6.7m in diameter and weighing 33t. The anchors are 3.1m in height and weigh 13t.

CVF will carry over 8,600t of fuel to support both the vessel and aircraft.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Do we risk exposing HMS Queen Elizabeth to the fate of Force Z? | TheArticle
Tuesday July 14, 2020
Daniel Johnson
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(Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

The largest warship that has ever sailed under the Royal Navy’s White Ensign is to be based in the Far East, there to join the Allied deterrent against Chinese aggression. The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, whose crew is still undergoing training at sea, will begin her first mission early next year with a maiden voyage that will bring her close to the most disputed waters on earth: the South China Sea. The duration of her deployment is unknown, but she is likely to visit the naval bases at Singapore, Okinawa and Darwin.

For the past half-century, Britain has not had a permanent military or naval presence “East of Suez” — as the post-imperial jargon had it. During the Cold War, the main threat came from the Soviet Navy and the North Atlantic was necessarily the main focus of British naval strategy. Policing the Pacific and Indian Oceans was left largely to the US Navy, apart from occasional limited missions, such as protecting shipping against East African piracy. Without the network of bases that the Empire had once provided, it was axiomatic that surface vessels could not operate far from home for long periods; the Falklands War in 1982 was the exception that proved the rule.

However, the rise of China as an economic, political and military superpower has altered western calculations. Beijing’s expansion in the last decade has sent shockwaves through the region — and beyond. The ideology that is driving Chinese policy is not only nationalist and communist, but imperialist.

The response has been striking. US sea power, which had been allowed to decline, is now once again returning to full strength. Despite a series of embarrassing incidents — the latest being the fire on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship based at San Diego — the US Navy remains an essential part of the Western security infrastructure that underpins global peace and prosperity. The Pax Americana of the past 75 years, which we often take for granted, ultimately depends on the readiness to use force against those who disrupt it.

It is good that the UK is to play a full part in the strategic containment of the multifarious threats emanating from China. But history suggests that we should be careful about exposing our capital ships to a formidable opponent, especially in the Far East. Before we dispatch Queen Elizabeth to a region where she will be placed in harm’s way, a brief reminder of the lessons of the past might not come amiss.

Until the end of 1941, the Second World War was still mainly confined to the European theatre. Even after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the United States remained neutral. However, the threat from Imperial Japan was a constant concern in London, Moscow and Washington.

We now know that Stalin was in fact much better informed about Japanese intentions than either Churchill or Roosevelt, thanks to the espionage network in Tokyo created by a Soviet spy, Richard Sorge, posing as a German journalist. The Russians were aware that Japan would strike at the Western powers, not at their own exposed Siberian border, and were thus able to move forces westwards that proved decisive in the Battle of Moscow.

The Americans wrongly assumed that Japan was incapable of sending a task force across the Pacific and did not anticipate the daring surprise assault on Pearl Harbor. The British realised that their colonial possessions were vulnerable to a Japanese Blitzkrieg and sought to deter it. But they too laboured under the illusion that their main naval base, Singapore, was so strongly defended that it could withstand any seaborne assault. It was therefore seen as a secure port from which to deter Japanese aggression. But a strong British naval presence was also required to intercept an invasion of the Malayan hinterland.

Hence Churchill’s decision in the autumn of 1941 to send to the Far East the new battleship Prince of Wales, one of the most powerful warships afloat, and the elderly but elegant battlecruiser Repulse. Prince of Wales was already famous for having engaged the German battleship Bismarck and for providing the backdrop to the signing of the Atlantic Charter by Roosevelt and Churchill. The Prime Minister, who was also First Lord of the Admiralty and thus responsible for naval operations, had wanted the two capital ships to be accompanied by a fast modern aircraft carrier to provide airborne protection, but after Indomitable ran aground, none could be spared from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The older carrier Hermes, which escorted Prince of Wales as far as Cape Town, was too slow to be fit for the Far Eastern mission.

It is worth recalling that 1941 was the worst year for the Royal Navy in either world war. That year the battleship Barham, the battlecruiser Hood and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal had already been sunk by the Germans, not to mention smaller warships. Other capital ships were damaged. But the worst was yet to come.

Churchill had overruled his most senior admiral, Sir John Tovey, by insisting on the despatch of Force Z, as the Prince of Wales and Repulse plus escorts were designated when they arrived in Singapore on 2 December, 1941. Their commander, Sir Tom Phillips, fatally underestimated the Japanese enemy. He was unaware that Admiral Yamamoto, the mastermind of Pearl Harbor, had trained a special air force of “ship-killers” to cover the amphibious invasion of Malaya — the first land-based bombers to specialise in naval warfare. The high-tech anti-aircraft and radar systems with which the flagship Prince of Wales was equipped were disabled by the climate. Nor did Phillips ensure that Australian fighters were aware of his position to provide cover. When he sailed on 8 December, he had only one purpose: to disrupt and if possible destroy the Japanese landings in Malaya. Meanwhile the US Pacific Fleet was being devastated at Pearl Harbor.

Before Phillips could make contact with the Japanese convoy or the two battleships sent to escort it, he aborted the mission when he realised that Force Z had been detected. Before he could return to Singapore, however, he reversed course after learning that the invasion of Malaya was under way. On the morning of 10 December, his ships came under sustained attack from the air. Despite displaying superb seamanship — Repulse alone dodged 19 torpedoes before she was hit — and shooting down four aircraft, Force Z did not stand a chance. A squadron of RAAF Buffalo fighters arrived just too late. The two mighty warships, battered by bombs and torpedoed four times apiece, both sank with the loss of 840 men, including Phillips. It was one of the worst defeats the Royal Navy had ever suffered. After receiving the news, Churchill commented: “In all the war, I never received a more direct shock.”

Lest we forget, it is worth recalling that the sister ship of HMS Queen Elizabeth, still undergoing trials, bears the name HMS Prince of Wales. If either of these great aircraft carriers is to deter the Chinese from further aggression in the South China Sea and beyond, they will need protection of a kind that only the United States can provide. The threats today are different, of course, but it would be folly to expose our carriers to the fate of Force Z. Otherwise we risk repeating one of Churchill’s most fatal strategic errors.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

A chicon plp article...anyway this UK Carrrier is not a big deal...are the ChiCons that insecure?

Theindependent
UK naval force, which will stop over in Singapore, must not provoke Beijing

Author
- Advertisement -
With a large British naval force scheduled to pass through Singapore to enter the South China Sea in May, the British must deploy their naval force in a way that will not appear as imperialist posturing against China. If the Chinese leaders perceive this British naval group, which includes the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, as reviving gunboat diplomacy in the tradition of the bygone British empire, Singapore risks suffering collateral damage for hosting this British force. If the British fleet provokes China, the Chinese government may possibly find ways to punish Singapore.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted on April 27, “The HMS Queen Elizabeth will depart next month on a tour to India, Japan, S Korea & Singapore. The UK is committed to working with our partners in the Indo-Pacific to defend democratic values, tackle shared threats & keep our nations safe.”
On April 22, Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Facebook he “welcomed” the British Royal Navy’s proposed deployment of its Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group to Asia, including a stopover at Changi Naval Base in Singapore.
Ships from this carrier strike group will participate in Exercise Bersama Lima to mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, said the UK Defence Ministry on its website on April 26.
- Advertisement -
“Engagements in Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Japan and India will provide the opportunity for strengthening our security relationships, tightening political ties and supporting our UK exports and International Trade agenda,” the UK Defence Ministry added.
The UK Defence Ministry announced on its website on April 26, “The largest concentration of maritime and air power to the UK in a generation will set sail next month, visiting more than 40 countries. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the most powerful surface vessel in the Royal Navy’s history, will next month set sail as the flagship of a Carrier Strike Group.”
Included in this fleet will be destroyers, anti-submarine frigates, a submarine armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and “the greatest quantity of helicopters assigned to a single UK Task Group in a decade,” the UK Defence Ministry disclosed.
The UK Ministry of Defence tweeted on April 26, “The Carrier Strike Group 2021 is a potent demonstration of the UK’s formidable naval and air power, and the physical embodiment of the UK’s ambitions on the global stage. This is Global Britain in action.”
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on April 26, “When our Carrier Strike Group sets sail next month, it will be flying the flag for Global Britain – projecting our influence, signalling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow…..The UK is not stepping back but sailing forth to play an active role in shaping the international system of the 21st Century.”
Although Raab said the purpose of the British naval tour was to defend democratic values and keep nations like Singapore safe, the UK Defence Ministry’s boastful manner and Wallace’s talk of “Global Britain” may possibly remind the Chinese leaders and Chinese people of the British empire defeating China in two Opium Wars during the 19th century.
During the Second Opium War of 1856 to 1860, Singapore, then a British colony, played a role in Britain’s war with China. British troops and warships were stationed in Singapore before sailing to attack Guangzhou in 1857 led by James Bruce, the Earl of Elgin. The British government appointed Lord Elgin as British Plenipotentiary to lead the Anglo-French expeditionary force to China in the late 1850s. Upon his appointment, Lord Elgin sailed to Singapore. Today, there remains Elgin Bridge in Singapore in memory of him.
During a session in British Parliament in London on July 20, 1857, as recorded in Hansard, Sir Charles Wood, First Lord of the Admiralty (the political head of the British Royal Navy), said, “Lord Elgin was at Singapore, waiting for the frigate which is to convey him on to Hong Kong, from whence he was to proceed to Pekin to open negotiations with the imperial Government of China; He has ample naval force at his command to meet any emergency that might arise.”
The British expeditionary force to China was delayed by the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when some British troops were diverted to India to quell the Indian Mutiny. Later in 1857, the British force attacked Guangzhou with the French. Guangzhou fell to British and French forces on January 1, 1858.
Lord Elgin was not proud of what he did. As recounted in the May and June 2002 issue of the New Left Review, Lord Elgin, standing before Guangzhou on December 22, 1857, wrote to his wife, “I have never felt so ashamed of myself in my life. There we were, accumulating the means of destruction under the very eyes and within the reach of about one million people, against whom these means of destruction were to be employed!”
“I have been forced to act brutally, I am China’s friend in all this,” Elgin said in 1858 as quoted in the New Left Review.
In the summer of 1860, the British government again dispatched Lord Elgin to lead an Anglo-French force to Beijing. In retaliation for the torture to death of some British officials on the orders of Chinese Emperor Xianfeng, the Summer Palace in Beijing was burnt down on Lord Elgin’s orders in October 1860. Generations of Chinese students have been taught in schools in China that the destruction of the Summer Palace was a terrible humiliation to their country.
Given such scars in China’s collective psyche, it is important that the British carrier force does not conduct itself in a manner that scratches old wounds.
At the Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference in Beijing on April 27, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin answered a reporter’s question on British plans to send its fleet to the South China Sea. Wang said, “China hopes that countries outside the region … refrain from taking actions that could complicate the situation.”
Wallace has made a sensible statement that this British force is not meant to confront China. He told the British Parliament on April 26, “We are not going to the other side of the world to be provocative. We will sail through the South China Sea, we will be confident but not confrontational.”
The British aircraft carrier group will avoid the Taiwan Strait to prevent offending Beijing in its maiden voyage in May, according to British newspaper reports. The group will instead go through the South China Sea to the east of Taiwan.
Unfortunately, there are hawkish voices among British politicians. On April 14, the Daily Telegraph quoted former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith as saying, “I’m pleased the Aircraft Carrier is deploying in the South China Sea but 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.”
Hopefully, the British government will not heed Smith. The British Lion should avoid stepping on the Chinese Dragon’s tail. Otherwise, the Chinese Dragon may perhaps view Singapore and its Elgin Bridge with a vengeful eye.
Of course, the Singapore government is not encouraging British provocation of China, just because Singapore will host this British carrier force. After all, the Singapore Armed Forces are increasing military cooperation with China. For example, a Chinese naval force held a joint naval exercise with the Singapore Navy in waters near Singapore on February 24.
Singapore has benefited from the protection of the armed forces of the UK, Australia, US and New Zealand. But it is a matter of presentation. Although there are valid arguments for the deployment of this British naval force, how this will come across to China is also important. The British and Singapore governments should exercise their soft skills in presenting the correct picture.
Toh Han Shih is chief analyst of Headland Intelligence, a Hong Kong risk consultancy. The opinions expressed in this article are his own.
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Send in your scoops to [email protected]

 

[kaninabuchaojibye]

the sailors disembark and give singkies a present
uk covid variant!
then really huat
haaaa

 

[Hypocrite-The]

17 fighter jets on the pommie carrier n chicon land is worried? Are they that insecure?

 

[orh mee suah]

The HMS Queen Elizabeth shall sail past Pahang, Malaysia to perform a remembrance service over the watery grave of HMS Prince Of Wales.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

 

[50000]

Later one dongfeng middle send queen e to join prince Philip

she is named after QEI not QEII

 

[Pinkieslut]

the sailors disembark and give singkies a present
uk covid variant!
then really huat
haaaa

With death of retail, MiW should restart the Bugis street of old days.

 

[syed putra]

British has two sircraft carriers. One should be at stanley and the other off sui wan hong kong. Its about time british take back what was theirs as china dif not honour the hsndover agreement.

 

[LaoTze]

WHAT THE FUCK IS ONE PUNY Q E TO CHANGE?
WHEN CHINA MORE THAN READY TO TAKE ON MURICA AND ALL 12 CARRIERS

 

[apophylliso]

Later one dongfeng middle send queen e to join prince Philip

Later one dongfeng middle send queen e to join prince Philip

Later one dongfeng middle send queen e to join prince Philip

haha.if only ccp china dare to fire df at usa or british carrier.

give xi winnie ccp china 10000 df missle as good as no give becos the guts to fire at the british or usa carrier is just not big enough.lol

for example if i m a military businessman and i can give you one tank one machine gun and all the powerful weapon and i ask you to take down a army camp.

knn you dare boh knowing after you fire the few rounds.... you will be facing full force revenge counter attack from all sides all camps all areas...

u die also dunno why die.

 

[apophylliso]

The British carrier? Wats that?

to mr dickson u... paper tiger.

tok n tok ...but no guts to take on usa carrier groups.puke...

 

[tanwahtiu]

A chicon plp article...anyway this UK Carrrier is not a big deal...are the ChiCons that insecure?

Theindependent
UK naval force, which will stop over in Singapore, must not provoke Beijing

Author
- Advertisement -
With a large British naval force scheduled to pass through Singapore to enter the South China Sea in May, the British must deploy their naval force in a way that will not appear as imperialist posturing against China. If the Chinese leaders perceive this British naval group, which includes the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, as reviving gunboat diplomacy in the tradition of the bygone British empire, Singapore risks suffering collateral damage for hosting this British force. If the British fleet provokes China, the Chinese government may possibly find ways to punish Singapore.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted on April 27, “The HMS Queen Elizabeth will depart next month on a tour to India, Japan, S Korea & Singapore. The UK is committed to working with our partners in the Indo-Pacific to defend democratic values, tackle shared threats & keep our nations safe.”
On April 22, Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Facebook he “welcomed” the British Royal Navy’s proposed deployment of its Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group to Asia, including a stopover at Changi Naval Base in Singapore.
Ships from this carrier strike group will participate in Exercise Bersama Lima to mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the UK, said the UK Defence Ministry on its website on April 26.
- Advertisement -
“Engagements in Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Japan and India will provide the opportunity for strengthening our security relationships, tightening political ties and supporting our UK exports and International Trade agenda,” the UK Defence Ministry added.
The UK Defence Ministry announced on its website on April 26, “The largest concentration of maritime and air power to the UK in a generation will set sail next month, visiting more than 40 countries. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the most powerful surface vessel in the Royal Navy’s history, will next month set sail as the flagship of a Carrier Strike Group.”
Included in this fleet will be destroyers, anti-submarine frigates, a submarine armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and “the greatest quantity of helicopters assigned to a single UK Task Group in a decade,” the UK Defence Ministry disclosed.
The UK Ministry of Defence tweeted on April 26, “The Carrier Strike Group 2021 is a potent demonstration of the UK’s formidable naval and air power, and the physical embodiment of the UK’s ambitions on the global stage. This is Global Britain in action.”
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on April 26, “When our Carrier Strike Group sets sail next month, it will be flying the flag for Global Britain – projecting our influence, signalling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow…..The UK is not stepping back but sailing forth to play an active role in shaping the international system of the 21st Century.”
Although Raab said the purpose of the British naval tour was to defend democratic values and keep nations like Singapore safe, the UK Defence Ministry’s boastful manner and Wallace’s talk of “Global Britain” may possibly remind the Chinese leaders and Chinese people of the British empire defeating China in two Opium Wars during the 19th century.
During the Second Opium War of 1856 to 1860, Singapore, then a British colony, played a role in Britain’s war with China. British troops and warships were stationed in Singapore before sailing to attack Guangzhou in 1857 led by James Bruce, the Earl of Elgin. The British government appointed Lord Elgin as British Plenipotentiary to lead the Anglo-French expeditionary force to China in the late 1850s. Upon his appointment, Lord Elgin sailed to Singapore. Today, there remains Elgin Bridge in Singapore in memory of him.
During a session in British Parliament in London on July 20, 1857, as recorded in Hansard, Sir Charles Wood, First Lord of the Admiralty (the political head of the British Royal Navy), said, “Lord Elgin was at Singapore, waiting for the frigate which is to convey him on to Hong Kong, from whence he was to proceed to Pekin to open negotiations with the imperial Government of China; He has ample naval force at his command to meet any emergency that might arise.”
The British expeditionary force to China was delayed by the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when some British troops were diverted to India to quell the Indian Mutiny. Later in 1857, the British force attacked Guangzhou with the French. Guangzhou fell to British and French forces on January 1, 1858.
Lord Elgin was not proud of what he did. As recounted in the May and June 2002 issue of the New Left Review, Lord Elgin, standing before Guangzhou on December 22, 1857, wrote to his wife, “I have never felt so ashamed of myself in my life. There we were, accumulating the means of destruction under the very eyes and within the reach of about one million people, against whom these means of destruction were to be employed!”
“I have been forced to act brutally, I am China’s friend in all this,” Elgin said in 1858 as quoted in the New Left Review.
In the summer of 1860, the British government again dispatched Lord Elgin to lead an Anglo-French force to Beijing. In retaliation for the torture to death of some British officials on the orders of Chinese Emperor Xianfeng, the Summer Palace in Beijing was burnt down on Lord Elgin’s orders in October 1860. Generations of Chinese students have been taught in schools in China that the destruction of the Summer Palace was a terrible humiliation to their country.
Given such scars in China’s collective psyche, it is important that the British carrier force does not conduct itself in a manner that scratches old wounds.
At the Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference in Beijing on April 27, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin answered a reporter’s question on British plans to send its fleet to the South China Sea. Wang said, “China hopes that countries outside the region … refrain from taking actions that could complicate the situation.”
Wallace has made a sensible statement that this British force is not meant to confront China. He told the British Parliament on April 26, “We are not going to the other side of the world to be provocative. We will sail through the South China Sea, we will be confident but not confrontational.”
The British aircraft carrier group will avoid the Taiwan Strait to prevent offending Beijing in its maiden voyage in May, according to British newspaper reports. The group will instead go through the South China Sea to the east of Taiwan.
Unfortunately, there are hawkish voices among British politicians. On April 14, the Daily Telegraph quoted former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith as saying, “I’m pleased the Aircraft Carrier is deploying in the South China Sea but 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.”
Hopefully, the British government will not heed Smith. The British Lion should avoid stepping on the Chinese Dragon’s tail. Otherwise, the Chinese Dragon may perhaps view Singapore and its Elgin Bridge with a vengeful eye.
Of course, the Singapore government is not encouraging British provocation of China, just because Singapore will host this British carrier force. After all, the Singapore Armed Forces are increasing military cooperation with China. For example, a Chinese naval force held a joint naval exercise with the Singapore Navy in waters near Singapore on February 24.
Singapore has benefited from the protection of the armed forces of the UK, Australia, US and New Zealand. But it is a matter of presentation. Although there are valid arguments for the deployment of this British naval force, how this will come across to China is also important. The British and Singapore governments should exercise their soft skills in presenting the correct picture.
Toh Han Shih is chief analyst of Headland Intelligence, a Hong Kong risk consultancy. The opinions expressed in this article are his own.
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[Hypocrite-The]

HMS Queen Elizabeth Fails to Live Up to its China Seas Billing
As has been shown over the QE, China will issue threats to those who sail too close to the heavily armed islands that it has expanded in recent years, despite international protests, to the point where they control the area.
Aug 08, 2021 | John Elliott

The HMS Queen Elizabeth. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
It was to have been a triumphal demonstration of Brexit Britain’s continuing global reach into Asia and the Pacific, with the proud new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth showing that the UK can play an international role in challenging China’s widening power.

Heavily guarded by a US destroyer and a Dutch frigate and equipped with American F-35 air fighters, the three-billion-pound QE has however just sailed through the contested South China Sea, where Beijing claims extended territorial waters around newly developed islands that have become fully-fledged military and air bases.

There was apparently no major incident, despite high profile hype dating back three years about Britain establishing “freedom of navigation” rights. The Ministry of Defence and Royal Navy websites have had little update information and even Boris Johnson, the hubristic prime minister, has avoided hailing “Rule Britannia”.

The QE is of course doing worthy work “showing the flag” at a time when Boris Johnson has announced Britain’s post-Brexit “Asia Tilt”, which basically means negotiating trade deals to replace what has been lost from the European Union.

But the Royal Navy is much diminished after years of budget cuts. Ignominiously, one of its destroyers charged with protecting the QE on its 16,000 nautical mile voyage had engine problems early on and had to retreat to an Italian port for repairs (leaving only one of the navy’s six ships in its class actively afloat).

Then, just as the QE was approaching waters claimed by China, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin punctured Britain’s Asian ambitions, implying they were misplaced. He applauded the “historic” voyage but added, “Are there areas that the UK can be more helpful in other parts of the world?” With scarce resources the US and its allies should “work out the best way to share military burdens”, hinting that Britain’s best way was nearer home.

The Financial Times was the only media outlet to spot and highlight those words in the speech that was made by Austin in Singapore at an event sponsored by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. The FT report brought tweets of protest from the IISS moderator, a former British staffer on the newspaper, who claimed this was not Austin’s main message and that no one else had spotted the remarks.

The line however looks sound and could well have been a warning to Johnson not to allow his Global Britain hype to lead to a clash that could not be won in an area virtually controlled by China.

The report has gained credibility with repeated mentions in The Times, The Guardian, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and elsewhere, that would not have appeared without prior checking with US sources,.

Dominic Raab, Britain’s foreign secretary, tried on August 4 to re-set Britain’s case, saying that Austin’s remarks had been “over interpreted”. Raab talked about the UK’s diplomatic and other Asia Pacific roles working, for example, with Indonesia on counter-terrorism and Vietnam on anti-trafficking – bypassing the point that that such laudable work does not need an aircraft carrier protected by other nations’ ships.

The Observer newspaper, the Sunday version of the Guardian, ran an article of August 1 saying that “Sailing into imperial delusions is no way to run foreign policy”. It mocked defence secretary Ben Wallace for declaring the aim was to “fly the flag for Global Britain”.

China reacted angrily warning (in its Global Times mouthpiece) that the QE flotilla should “remain restrained and obey the rules”, adding that it was “likely to escalate attempts to expel the warships at any time.”

In August 2018, another British warship sparked a diplomatic row when it sailed intentionally too close to the Paracels and was tracked at close range by Chinese ships and aircraft. That was ordered by the then defence secretary, gaffe-prone Gavin Williamson (a Boris Johnson favourite and now a disastrous education secretary), who referred in a 2019 speech to the QE’s future freedom of navigation voyage. Britain, he said, would boost its post-Brexit global military standing and “enhance our lethality” in response to the threats posed by Russia and China.

Germany also seems to have had second thoughts about provoking China with a frigate that set out this week on a seven-month voyage that will include the South China Sea. Beijing asked Germany to define the ship’s purpose, exposing splits on the issue in Angela Merkel’s government, and withheld permission for it to call in at Shanghai.

Quad exercises

India – which did exercises with the QE strike group in the Indian Ocean – is joining the throng. It has four ships, two armed with missiles, setting out for a two-month deployment in southeast Asia that will include exercises with the US, Japan and Australia, its partners in what is called the Quad security alliance.

India will no doubt be careful not to challenge China’s South China Sea claims – it has enough problems dealing with the two countries’ 15-month long confrontation in the Himalayas where China is steadily encroaching on what India regards as its share of disputed territory.

At the heart of all this naval activity – which includes American and Chinese ships – lies the world’s dichotomy about how to deal with an aggressive China under its president Xi Jinping. Britain has failed to affect China’s brutal clampdown on freedoms in its former territory of Hong Kong, and its complaints about treatment of the Uighurs in Xinxiang province are ignored along with protests from other countries.

As has been shown over the QE, China will issue threats to those who sail too close to the heavily armed islands that it has expanded in recent years, despite international protests, to the point where they control the area.

It will not however be worried by the deployment of one ship from Germany, a few from the UK and its allies, and a few more from India. These countries are underlining international determination not to let China block key shipping lanes but no nation – maybe apart from the US – can muster the force that would be needed to deter Beijing.

Britain however is not giving up. It has announced that it will permanently assign two offshore patrol vessels to work with other countries in the region – just a token gesture from the country that once “ruled the waves”.

This article was first published on Ride the Elephant, John Elliott’s blog. It has been slightly edited for style.

John Elliott is a journalist and author of the book IMPLOSION: India’s Tryst With Reality.