The Royal Navy is reported to be considering sending the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth close to the contested Spratly Islands.To get more
chinese online news, you can visit shine news official website.
China's claim that large parts of the South China Sea are its territorial waters is hotly disputed and several countries sail warships through the area to assert rights of passage.
The UK is keen to join the United States and Australia and is reported to be considering sailing the navy's new 65,000 ton aircraft carrier, with US F-35 warplanes on-board, to the Spratly Islands.
But a Chinese defence attache to the UK used a meeting of the London Defence Correspondents' Association in London to send a warning to the UK, the Telegraph reports."If the US and UK join hands in a challenge or violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, that would be hostile action," said Major General Su Guanghui.
Speaking at the same event, China's ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming rejected the argument that the Royal Navy would be upholding international law.
"The South China Sea is a vast ocean, it is three million square kilometres wide, we have no objection to people sailing around there but do not enter Chinese territorial waters within twelve nautical miles," he said.
"If you don't do that, there shouldn't be a problem. The South China Sea is wide enough to have free navigation of shipping.A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The UK has enduring interests in the region and is committed to maintaining regional security.
"The presence of international navies in the South China Sea is normal and the Royal Navy is no exception to this."We remain committed to asserting rights of freedom of navigation at sea and in the air as provided for by international law."Last year China accused Britain of "provocation" after a 22,000-tonne Royal Navy warship sailed past another set of disputed islands in the South China Sea.
Heavily armed HMS Albion sparked outrage in Beijing when it passed the disputed Paracel Islands on its way to Vietnam.China's Foreign Ministry accused the warship of entering Chinese territorial waters without permission - and accused Britain of infringing on "China's sovereignty".
Aerial photos released in February 2018 s reveal how China has turned the Spratly Islands disputed into fortresses bristling with military hardware.
One island - which a UN court ruled belongs to the Philippines - now has a two-mile runway, a port and multistorey concrete barracks.
