Reporter from The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned on August 30 that UK Defence Secretary Healey denied previous media reports about his comments on Taiwan on the 29th.

UK Defence Secretary Healey, Visual China, photo

On the same day, Healey told an exclusive interview with Nikkei Asia that the report by the Daily Telegraph in July regarding his remarks on the Taiwan issue was "completely wrong." He insisted that the content written by the journalist was "completely opposite" to his actual statements.

Healey had visited the Royal Navy's "Prince of Wales" aircraft carrier in July. According to the Daily Telegraph's report, Healey claimed that the UK would "stand shoulder to shoulder with Australia to better deter adversaries" when asked about how the UK and its allies would address security threats in the Indo-Pacific region, such as the Taiwan Strait issue.

On August 29, when asked similar questions by Nikkei Asia, Healey emphasized that he "obviously would not speculate on hypothetical situations" and stressed that the UK government hopes for a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue.

The day before, Healey met with Japanese Defence Minister Nakagawa in Tokyo. According to the joint statement issued after their meeting, both sides expressed "serious concerns" about the situations in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and "consistently agreed to strongly oppose any attempts to change the status quo through unilateral use of force or coercion." In response, on August 28, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the UK stated that the relevant content in the UK-Japan joint statement concerning China distorted facts and reversed right and wrong. China firmly opposed this. "We urge the UK and Japan to deeply reflect on their erroneous words and deeds regarding the Taiwan issue and maritime issues, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and cease stirring up trouble and creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region."

In recent years, the UK has continuously strengthened its strategic relationship with Japan. According to information from the Japanese Ministry of Defence, on August 22, Japan and the UK conducted a joint naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean south of Okinawa Island. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force's "Ise" helicopter destroyer (JS Ise) and the UK's "Princess of Wales" aircraft carrier strike group participated in the exercise. According to reports from Kyodo News and other media, during the exercise, in addition to the F-15 fighter jets of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces and the US Air Force, F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing stealth fighters belonging to the US Marine Corps and the UK Royal Navy took off from the ski-jump deck of the "Queen Elizabeth" aircraft carrier as part of the training.

According to a report from the China National Defence Newspaper, this exercise marked the first large-scale coordinated action between the UK and Japan following the implementation of the 2023 Mutual Access Agreement, signifying that their defence cooperation has moved from "symbolic participation" to "substantial binding." Japan aims to strengthen its defence capabilities by leveraging British power, while the UK seeks to increase its involvement in Indo-Pacific affairs through cooperation with Japan.

On August 29, Gao Jia Kun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, responded to related questions, stating that the Asia-Pacific is a highland of cooperative development, not a chessboard for geopolitical rivalry. Peaceful development and win-win cooperation are the common wishes of the people of the region. We hope that relevant countries will work with regional countries to do more things that truly enhance mutual trust and cooperation and promote peace and stability.

Reporter from The Paper: Namba Koichi

(This article comes from The Paper. For more original news, please download the "The Paper" APP.)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544316797693887028/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author. Please express your attitude by clicking the 【Like/Dislike】 button below.