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Australia and the United Kingdom plan to send the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Pacific as part of China's militarization in the South China Sea.
Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne As part of her visit this week, Julie Bishop discussed joint naval operations in the Pacific region with British Secretary of Defense Gavin Williamson.
Williamson and Payne visited BAe Systems shipyards on the Clyde. in Glasgow, to inspect new type 26 frigates of the kind purchased last month by Australia under an agreement of 20 billion pounds sterling ($ 36 billion) and the British base of nuclear submarines at Faslane
. British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt, bishop, said that there had been a noticeable change in the "great power relations" that had fueled an unprecedented level of global volatility.
the priation and militarization of islands claimed by other South-East Asian countries – he built air bases and installed missile systems near his neighbors and heightened its control over the regional sea lanes.
Bishop evokes challenges to international standards and conventions "In the Pacific region, the four ministers said these threats justified greater defense and security cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States. Australia, supported by an increase in British diplomatic outposts in the South Pacific countries such as Tonga and Vanuatu.
"At a critical moment in world affairs, we believe that it is vital for like-minded nations come together to promote peace and stability, "Bishop said." We could not be happier as the UK plays a growing role in the Indo-Pacific. "
The control of the South China Sea is one of the most controversial and explosive diplomatic issues of East Asia.For centuries, various regional powers have claimed the sea, ri fisheries and serving as a navigation channel for more than half of the world's oil traffic.
China maintains ferocious territorial disputes with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines run through 3.5 million square kilometers of water, which would also be rich in oil and gas . At the height of the animosity during the 1970s and 1980s, China and Vietnam used force several times, causing dozens of deaths and several sunken ships.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to "resolutely defend" the region. In recent years, Beijing has dredged sand on coral reefs to turn them into islands that it uses as military bases, equipped with missile launchers, runways, barracks and radar installations.
The United States is becoming increasingly alarmed over Washington's involvement in the conflicts, supporting those who oppose China and carrying out naval patrols.
In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague overwhelmingly supported the Philippines in their dispute over Chinese control of atolls near its shores. However, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte considered China as an economic partner and did not pursue the issue.
Citing an increased threat from submarines in the Pacific, operated by unidentified countries, Williamson pointed out Australia's decision to buy nine type 26 frigates, which will be built by BAe at Adelaide, and renamed by the Royal Australian Navy as Hunter class ships.
"We have begun to see a radical change in our relationship," he said. "For the first time since 2013, Britain is deploying ships in the Pacific region, we have three this year, and it's not something we want to see like a flash in the pan, but a commitment to the region that goes forward in the coming years.
"We are very hopeful and we will work together on the deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Pacific and sail side by side with Australian ships
"And we want to make sure everyone understands that these two great nations are the greatest allies."
Deploying the HMS Queen Elizabeth in Australian waters would be a big investment for the British Royal Navy. Once operational in 2020, it would normally travel with an "aircraft carrier attack group" involving several frigates for anti-submarine warfare, destroyers for air defense and potential only a submarine killer hunter.
Bishop and Hunt were also questioned Western countries double their defense spending, and if that was feasible. The bishop said that Trump had made "a very valid point" about the need to increase defense spending and "burden sharing" among US allies.
Payne said the Australian government was on track to increase defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by the target date of 2023-24, thanks to a "very strong program" to modernize military equipment, including The purchase of F35 and E18 Growler hunters. Hunt, who was appointed foreign minister after Boris Johnson's recent resignation in protest of the British government's Brexit policy, said he also believed that Trump "had a point" on the countries of the country. NATO, which had not met the goal of the alliance to devote 2% of GDP to defense.
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