British Defense Secretary Shapps recently announced that the British aircraft carrier strike group will visit Japan in 2025. This is a part of the Hiroshima Agreement issued by the leaders of Britain and Japan in May this year. Fleet visits were supposed to be a normal part of state-to-state military exchanges, but Shapps claimed that the deployment of the carrier strike group "sends a strong message of deterrence" and marks the potential visit with a strong geopolitical competition. He even said in a somewhat threatening tone that "the strength and global influence of the British armed forces should never be underestimated".
Shapps did not specify who his intimidation was directed at, but he did mention the "rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait", which was considered to be an attempt to "contain China", which, if so, would indeed be beyond his means; If he is going to say it to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, except for a few allies, the vast majority of regional countries will also laugh it off and not take it seriously at all. Britain once had many colonies in the Asia-Pacific region, but it should not misjudge the times. Today, it is one of the most dynamic regions in the world, home to most of the countries that pursue independent diplomacy.
In fact, no one "underestimates" Britain at all, and it is Britain itself that does not put itself in the right position. Europeans criticize Britain as saying that "there are two kinds of countries in Europe: small countries and small countries that do not know that they are small countries", which is ironic of Britain's "imperial dream" that has not yet given up.
The British Navy currently has two aircraft carriers, the "Queen Elizabeth" and the "Prince of Wales." Both ships are riddled with problems and have had serious water penetration accidents, and have been nicknamed "sieve ships" by foreign media. As early as 2021, the "Queen Elizabeth" carried out a "global cruise mission" and made a joke about the carrier-based aircraft falling overboard in the Mediterranean. Today, the British Navy can't even put together a fleet of carrier-based aircraft and a convoy for two aircraft carriers. It is still unknown whether such a "sunset red fleet" can successfully reach the Pacific Ocean without anchoring halfway, and even if it can barely reach it, it is likely to be the end of the crossbow.
London should have some points in his heart about this. Why did it set the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group at 2025? There is a big mystery in this - 2024 is the first year of the United Kingdom, which is equivalent to a blank check written to voters in advance. But regardless of the British side's considerations, and regardless of whether its carrier strike group will actually be deployed to the Asia-Pacific region in two years' time, similar hype and performances will not add points to Britain's international image, but will only bring it closer and closer to the "laughing stock".
In recent years, Britain and Japan have promoted a lot of bilateral and multilateral military and security cooperation, including joint research and development of next-generation advanced fighter jets, the signing of a "reciprocal access agreement," and so on; the two countries tout each other as each other's "closest security partners" in Europe and Asia, and they also talked about the "Anglo-Japanese alliance" during the imperialist period more than 100 years ago, and all excitedly said that the two countries were forming a "new Anglo-Japanese alliance." The "Anglo-Japanese Alliance" has been concluded three times in history, and each time it has been accompanied by aggression and partition of Asia-Pacific countries, and it can be said that it is an out-and-out imperialist axis and a tool for oppressing the people of the Asia-Pacific region.
Now Britain and Japan are not ashamed of that period of history but are proud, which shows that they have not thoroughly reflected on and liquidated the mistakes of that time, which is the root cause of these two countries continuing to follow the wrong path in the international community. The "proud" history of the two countries is precisely what regional countries hate the most. Shapps' claim that he will work with "Japan's Self-Defense Forces and other partners to help safeguard peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region" is unlikely to gain the trust of regional countries.
Hong Kong** previously commented in a column that the situation of great power game provoked by the United States has made some countries with a history of colonialism and imperialism once again rekindle the "dream of a great power" to participate in changing history. This assessment is a vivid picture of the state of mind in Britain and Japan right now. They hope to take advantage of the global competition of the United States, and for this reason they do not hesitate to take the initiative to play the role of pawn and gripper for the United States. In this sense, although Britain and Japan are facing many internal and external difficulties, they must also find ways to increase investment to enhance their presence in the US global military strategy system. However, if you want to "revive your majesty" by showing off your might, you are simply drinking to quench your thirst; Acting as a scaffolding for the United States' foreign strategy will only allow itself to continue to dwarf.
Peaceful development is the trend of the times, and reckless use of military force will not bring about a better world. Presumably, there are still some remnants of London's old dream of "gunboat diplomacy", which makes it look even more bizarre and unself-aware in today's times. In the eyes of the outside world, Britain's "Sunset Red Fleet" should stay on the Internet to surf, after all, such harm is smaller, and the cost for them can be lower.
This article is an editorial of the Global Times.