May 2021
From What China Wants
As many of you will have seen in the news recently, the largest fleet of Royal Navy warships to deploy internationally since the 1982 Falklands War is heading to the Indo-Pacific region next month. HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will head through the Suez Canal and then head across to India, South East Asia, East Asia, and finally Oceania, in the largest expression to date of the UK’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific.
The question is, how is China going to take this? Will it enhance or damage the UK’s relationship with Asia? What dangers will the CSG face en route?
Rather than write about this myself, today we’re going to try something a bit different and start what I hope to be a series of interviews with other China-watchers.
Alex Neill is an expert on the geo-politics of the Indo-Pacific and runs a strategic advisory firm in Singapore, as well as being a collaborator at my own firm, MetisAsia.com.
Alex has written widely on China’s maritime ambitions, such as this article for the BBC – “South China Sea: What’s China’s plan for its ‘Great Wall of Sand’” – and this from a few weeks ago, “The very real risks of a dangerous confrontation with China”.
Here is my interview with Alex about the CSG from a couple of days ago; if you agree or disagree please do comment on the article. And remember to like, share and subscribe.
Many thanks for reading.
Sam Olsen
Full interview