‘GLOBAL Britain’ must be prepared to face down an increasingly aggressive China to protect trade interests in the heavily militarised South China Sea, a new study has warned.
Beijing has staked “unlawful and excessive” claims over international waters in the highly contested region, revealing a “deeply worrying strategic intent”, experts from the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) think-tank said. Chinese forces have built and occupied a series of man-made islands, developing them into fortresses bristling with missile batteries, troop barracks and even airstrips. But despite being more than 6,000 miles away, the South China Sea is vital to Britain’s long-term interests, the HJS says, with £97billion worth of UK imports and exports passing through the region.