"It legitimises the rules": Commodore hails HMS Prince of Wales Pacific ops after China "harassed" warships

Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) that returned home on Sunday (November 30), said personnel dealt with adversity superbly when they were challenged in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. HMS Prince of Wales and the UKCSG faced interference from Chinese military forces.

Beijing’s ships set up “constructive kill” drills, with fighter jets performing dummy attacks to try and stop personnel from carrying out exercises in the Pacific. Radio warnings were blared in English ordering them to leave. The UKCSG still proceeded to Japan and South Korea for future operations despite the adversity.

Cdre Blackmore said the crew responded to those situations with the professionalism the UKCSG came to expect from its personnel. Speaking at HMNB Portsmouth, he told The News: “Across the board, they’re just incredible.

“No one put a foot wrong, They maintained their professionalism throughout, were safe throughout, and we’ve come back to Portsmouth with everyone we left with. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

The UKCSG deployed on Operation Highmast, an extensive eight month mission, to train alongside international allies and reassure nations in the region that they can operate freely without restriction. Royal Navy ships also enforced sanctions against North Korea while present in the region. HMS Richmond was subject to simulated missile attacks while in the Taiwan Strait.

President Xi Jinping has ramped up pressure on the region to extend its sovereignty under the One China policy, acting against laws made by the United Nations in the process. A 2016 ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, said the South China Sea is governed by international maritime laws under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Cdre Blackmore said it’s hugely reassuring for British allies to see the Carrier Strike Group and its partners operating in the region, as it shows merchants can ooperate in the region without interference. Several nations worked alongside the UK throughout Operation Highmast, including Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, USA, and others.

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“A total of £286bn worth of trade flows from the Indo-Pacific to the Euro-Atlantic,” he added. “It's really important that we demonstrate that it’s a free and open Indo-Pacific, and that the maritime sea lanes are open.

“They are not contested by somebody else. By operating and exercising in that region, we’ve demonstrated that. We’ve done it as an international strike group. That’s really powerful. It legitimises what we’re doing and the rules based international order that we operate within. We’ve operated with 30 countries worldwide. That shows an incredible commitment to them, and a level of reassurance you can’t deliver in any other way.”

When asked if the Royal Navy is looking back to the Pacific for future operations, he added: “I think we have to be ready to look anywhere. My job now is to maintain the Carrier Strike Group at readiness to be deployed whenever the government chooses to.”