Royal Navy: HMS Prince of Wales Indo-Pacific deployment to "assert rule of law" over China - patrols planned
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Lord Vernon Coaker, Labour, said the deployment of HMS Prince of Wales will be the perfect reaction to Beijing bolstering its defences and air capabilities. The issue surrounding security in the region was debated in the House of Lords last Friday (January 10).
Lord Alton of Liverpool, crossbench, said: “On December 26, the People’s Republic of China announced two new aircraft, one as a three-engine stealth bomber and another which was described as a ‘mother ship for drones’. What account are we taking of the development of that fleet, in terms of our own security?”
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In response, Lord Coaker said: “The noble lord knows the policy in respect to China in terms of co-operating, competing and challenging. I believe very strongly that as well as competing and co-operating, we need to challenge, whether that is at home or abroad. We’ve looked at the implications for our own defence and that of our allies with respect to the development in China.
“Across the world, the power of ourselves and that of our international allies including the United States will be reflected with the Carrier Strike Group that will not only go into the Mediterranean but also the Indo-Pacific. That will be about asserting the rule of law.”


HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship, will take charge of the UK Carrier Strike Group in the Spring of this year. The operation will see sailors take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre alongside Australia and other navies, as well as hold diplomatic duties with Japan and other countries in the region.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer previously called for increased patrols in the Indo-Pacific during a visit to Samoa in October 2024, stating the country could not turn a blind eye to the challenges facing UK allies on the other side of the world. In response to an earlier question in the House of Lords from Lord Anderson of Swansea, Lord Coaker said: “There is an indivisibility of conflict. What happens in the Indo-Pacific affects us in Europe.
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Hide Ad“What happens in Europe affects us in the Indo-Pacific. You go anywhere in the world, those who stand with us in the defence of freedom understand there is an indivisibility of that conflict. That’s what we need to stand for, and it’s really important as a country that we be one of the leaders of that.”
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