China says UK warship passage threatens 'peace and stability' in Taiwan Strait
20 June 2025, 10:40
China's military has criticised the British warship's passage through the Taiwan Strait - calling it an "intentional provocation" that "undermines peace and stability.
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HMS Spey's patrol on Wednesday formed part of a long-planned deployment and was in alignment with international law, according to the British Royal Navy.
The patrol was the first by a British naval vessel in four years.
It comes as a UK carrier strike group arrives in the region for a deployment that will last several months.
China considers Taiwan its territory, which self-ruled Taiwan rejects.
A spokesperson from China's navy criticised the UK for "publicly hyping up" the journey of HMS Spey and said the UK's suggestions were "a distortion of legal principles and an attempt to mislead the public".
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"Such actions are intentional provocations that disrupt the situation and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait".
The spokesperson added that it had observed HMS Spey throughout its journey in the strait and Chinese military "will resolutely counter all threats and provocations".
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that while China respects other countries' rights to travel through the Taiwan Strait, it also "firmly opposes any country using the name of freedom of navigation to provoke and threaten China's sovereign security."
Meanwhile, Taiwan has praised the patrol as an act that protected the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.
HMS Spey is one of two British warships permanently on patrol in the Indo-Pacific.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have escalated over the past year since Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te - who supports an anti-Beijing stance - took office.
He has called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" and implemented policies targeting Chinese influence operations in Taiwan.
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