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| HMS Richmond was sailing through Taiwan Straight when Chinese fighter jets flew nearby |
The incident involved the HMS Richmond, a frigate operating as part of the UK's Carrier Strike Group. The warship passed through the strait on September 12 alongside the U.S. destroyer USS Higgins.
At the time, China’s Eastern Theater Command publicly accused the vessels of "troublemaking and provocation" and confirmed it had dispatched naval and air units to track and monitor the allied warships.
Now, it has been revealed that the Chinese response was far more aggressive than previously known. According to a report in The Times, Chinese jets performed "mock attacks" on the British frigate, a term referring to simulated missile launch runs without actually firing a weapon.
An officer aboard HMS Prince of Wales, the aircraft carrier leading the strike group, described the tense encounter in stark terms. "They were pretending to kill us," the officer said.
"They follow the path they would take if they were to attack," he explained. "They go up in altitude, then they split and turn 50 degrees away. It is an information warfare operation – they want us to know they are targeting us."
Despite the aggressive posturing, the British crew was confident the situation would not turn violent. "We expected a reaction but not of a violent nature – we were pretty sure they were not going to actually fire a missile."
Another officer noted that the exercise was "mutually beneficial in terms of training," as it provided the British forces with valuable insight into Chinese aerial tactics.
A Pattern of Harassment
The incident was part of a broader pattern of harassment by Chinese forces. In the week prior, the flagship HMS Prince of Wales was itself shadowed by Chinese warships as it sailed through the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where Beijing has built a series of heavily fortified military bases.
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| The HMS Prince of Wales was tracked by Chinese ships last week as it sailed through the South China Sea - Royal Navy/SWNS |
"The Chinese were trying to harass us, four or five of them trying to get close," said Lieutenant Rohan Lewis, an officer of the watch on the Prince of Wales. "They try to push us out a bit to see how far they can go."
Other officers on board stated that while the behavior was intimidating, there were no major concerns that China would open fire, and the forces ultimately behaved "professionally."
Freedom of Navigation vs. Sovereignty Claims
Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea and has dramatically expanded its military presence there in recent years, despite protests from neighboring countries like the Philippines and Vietnam and an international tribunal ruling that rejected its claims.
Just before the Prince of Wales's transit, China deployed both of its active aircraft carriers—the CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong—beyond the "second island chain," a strategic string of islands stretching from Japan to Indonesia, in a major show of force. A Chinese Navy spokesperson has called transits like the one conducted by the British and American ships "deliberate provocative acts that disrupt the situation and undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
The United Kingdom, however, consistently asserts its right to freedom of navigation through international waters. The British ships are part of Operation Highmast, an eight-month deployment through the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Japan, set to conclude in December.
"We have a direct interest in international rules, in freedom of navigation, in open maritime passage, and in the stability and security of the Indo-Pacific," UK Defence Secretary John Healey told reporters in August.