UK foreign secretary says more freedom of navigation patrols to be held in Taiwan Strait

英國外交大臣表示將在台灣海峽舉行更多航行自由巡邏

David Lammy also confirmed more missions will be conducted in South China Sea


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed in Parliament Tuesday that more freedom of navigation operations by the UK can be expected in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea in the future.

MP Desmond Swayne, who previously visited Taiwan, told the House of Commons that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey recently transited the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” per CNA. He described the operation as both appropriate and lawful.

Swayne posed two questions to Lammy: whether he agreed with the characterization of HMS Spey’s actions and mission, and whether the UK would conduct more such operations in the future. Lammy said yes to both questions.

In mid-May, HMS Spey conducted freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea as allowed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

According to the Royal Navy, HMS Spey recently participated in joint exercises with the US, Australia, Japan, and South Korea in waters around Japan and the East China Sea. Afterward, it sailed south and transited the Taiwan Strait on June 18, marking the first passage of a British naval vessel through the strait in four years.

On Monday, the HMS Spey operated alongside the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Sydney in the waters around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The UK Ministry of Defence described the maneuver as a “freedom of navigation activity.”

HMS Spey and its sister ship, HMS Tamar, both River-class offshore patrol vessels, departed the UK in September 2021 for a long-term deployment in the Indo-Pacific. Their deployment is slated to last five years.

The UK’s most advanced aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, is leading a carrier strike group that departed England in late April for operations in the Indo-Pacific. During a similar deployment in 2021, the frigate HMS Richmond, part of the same strike group, transited the Taiwan Strait in September, drawing protest from Beijing.