Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I really thought that was the plan against that British carrier that coming to the region in the summer.
Notice they shut up about that.
Nah, the British are too insignificant to warrant such special attention.
Basically carrier FoN patrols are crude gunboat diplomacy shows of force. It’s exactly like the neighbourhood thug loitering menacingly in front of your house to try to intimidate you. You confront him and he says he is on public property and you can’t stop him from being there. Maybe he puts a foot on your property or even take a short cut through when you are not looking, what are you going to do about it even if you did see him do it? By the time you come out of your front door he’s already back on the pubic footpath.
China’s response is to have its own private security walk right alongside the thug with automatic rifles. The private security isn’t exactly pointing the guns at them, but their very presence and extreme close proximity means even the tiniest violations can be instantly caught and punished if China so chooses.
So rather than intimidating China, the British are finding that it’s themselves that are being intimidated by such patrols. Where their crews end up treading on eggshells the whole time scared they would give the PLAN an excuse to escalate, as they know beyond all possible doubt that they would get absolutely obliterated in a real shoot out.
The British are shutting up about the whole thing as there is literally nothing for them to brag about.
This is probably part of the reason why the Americans bluntly told them to stay in their lane and don’t bother doing their FoN in Asia, as it sets a bad example to be so meek and well behaved when being escorted by the PLAN that it looks like an owner taking their dog out for a walk.
