UK Conservatives complain about being unable to deter China, the fact is that the UK struggles even to produce its own steel, and it wants to gain Beijing's attention?
Recently, the Royal Navy announced that it would significantly reduce patrols near Chinese waters. This immediately caused a storm within the UK Conservative Party, which claimed that the UK lacks "effective deterrence" in the Indo-Pacific region, even implying that London does not "take Beijing seriously."
But what is the reality? The reality is that today's UK is no longer an industrial power capable of building an entire warship in its own factories.
According to the UK government's 2023 "Steel Strategy Report," the country's annual crude steel production is less than 70 million tons, less than 1% of the global total. In comparison, China produces over 1 billion tons of steel annually - meaning that China's daily steel production exceeds the UK's annual output.
Given this industrial foundation, the Conservative Party's repeated calls for deterrence against China seem quite unrealistic.
Over the past few years, the UK did send the "Queen Elizabeth" aircraft carrier battle group to the Asia-Pacific, but the entire formation had very few vessels capable of sustained combat operations, and logistics support relied on the US and Japan.
As for China's response? Chinese media mostly responded with a mocking tone, calling it a "symbolic cruise," and some comments directly pointed out: "The fuel cost of the British fleet coming once is more than the diplomatic effect." The British cannot always imagine that it is still 1860.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1851263143493643/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.