Washington: Underlining the freedom of maritime navigation, Britain has announced that it would soon send fighter planes in the South China Sea. Along with this, a British aircraft carrier warship will also be deployed in next few years, in the waters of the South China Sea, informed the British ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch. China has already threatened the US, while raising objections to the deployment of the US warship in the area.
At present, a fleet of ‘Typhoon’ fighter planes from British Airforce is stationed in Japan. These British fighter planes would soon be deployed in the South China Sea territory, said Darroch. But he refrained from making any time frame commitment, vis-a-vis the deployment of these fighter planes in this territory. However, the British aircraft carrier, which is still in the building stages, would be deployed by 2020, informed the British ambassador.
Britain had deployed four ‘Typhoon’ planes in Japan in October only. Also, at present Britain is building two aircraft carriers. Both the warships would be inaugurated in the British Navy by 2020. Britain has indicated that one of the two warships would be deployed in the Asia-Pacific region. The announcement made by the British ambassador is claimed to be in accordance with the plan.
Apart from this, the British ambassador, while addressing a meeting of analysts in Washington, also stated that Britain should concentrate more on the happenings in the Middle East.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang put forth his country’s position vis-a-vis ‘South China Sea’ in a restrained tone. ‘Every country has freedom of maritime navigation. But while exercising the freedom, the third party should see to it that the issues of peace and security do not crop up by encroaching the sovereign rights of the countries in the South China Sea territory’, in these words, Shuang alerted Britain. However, the Chinese official media has criticized Britain’s announcement in much stronger terms.
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