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(CNN) -
The South China Sea has been the center of naval activity this week, with a strike group from a UK aircraft carrier, a US surface task force and forces from the People's Liberation Army. of China (PLA), all of them running exercises in the disputed maritime zone.
The British Royal Navy's aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth garnered attention, with China's state media and diplomats accusing the UK of causing trouble in the disputed waters at the behest of the United States.
In a statement provided to CNN, a UK Defense Ministry spokesman said the carrier strike group was legally sailing in the South China Sea, "just as one third of global shipping does annually."
The statement added that the strike group was taking the most direct route through international waters to conduct exercises with allies and partners in the Philippine Sea.
"As the Secretary of Defense told the UK Parliament in April, we are not going to the other side of the world to provoke. We will be confident, but not combative," the spokesman statement said.
On Friday, a series of photos posted on the US Navy website showed US Marine Corps jets participating in operations off the UK aircraft carrier, branded with the South China Sea.
"A free and open Indo-Pacific region that is peaceful and stable is vital to ensuring greater prosperity for the region and the world," read the captions.
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US Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets operate from the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the South China Sea on July 27.
Largest deployment in a generation
Ten US F-35 warplanes are deployed aboard the UK aircraft carrier, the result of an agreement between Washington and London to harmonize and integrate the operation of their carrier fleets.
A destroyer from the United States Navy and a frigate from the Netherlands are also part of the strike group.
In an earlier statement, the UK Defense Ministry described the strike group as the largest concentration of sea and air power to come out of the UK in a generation.
The group sailed from Britain in May and is expected to reach South Korea before returning home in the fall.
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Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea as its sovereign territory.
Starting in 2014, it has worked to turn numerous dark reefs and sandbars along the waterway into man-made islands heavily fortified with missiles, airstrips, and weapon systems, prompting protests from other competing governments. for their rights.
The arrival of the strike group drew the ire of China.
In China's state media, Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, described the deployment of the UK aircraft carrier as an attempt to "relive the glory days of the British Empire."
"The latest voyage of the UK's Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is not simply what London calls a crossing of the waters of the South China Sea under international law, it is a carefully planned stunt that serves multiple purposes," it said. read an article by Wu posted on the English website of the People's Liberation Army.
"It is no secret that the UK has acted in collusion with the US on the South China Sea issue, closely following their lead and dancing to their tune," Wu wrote.
US warns China it is committed to defending the Philippines amid tensions in the South China Sea
"The South China Sea was a symbol of the glorious British colonial past, whereby the former empire that prided itself on its colonies around the world took away the fortune and treasures it plundered in Asia," Wu added.
However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a speech delivered Tuesday in Singapore, called the UK's deployment "historic" and opposed what he described as China's illegitimate claims on the road. maritime.
Austin said the UK carrier deployment demonstrated the strength of Britain's alliances with both Washington and other nations in the region.
"I am especially excited to see how our friends strengthen their security ties with each other, further strengthening the set of alliances that keep attacks at bay," he said.
An American destroyer crosses the Taiwan Strait
As the carrier strike group moved through the South China Sea, a US Navy surface action group brought together two classes of US warships in the region for the first time.
A press release from the U.S. Seventh Fleet said the combination of the littoral combat ship USS Tulsa and the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd marked the first time that ships of those classes have combined to form a task force. surface area (SAG).
"These types of SAG operations are exceptional opportunities to take advantage of the combined lethality of the fleet," Captain Chase Sargeant, commander of the task force, said in the statement.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, another US guided missile destroyer, the USS Benfold, transited the Taiwan Strait, between the democratically controlled island of Taiwan and mainland China, and near the northern entrance to the South China Sea.
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It is the seventh transit of the Taiwan Strait by a United States warship in 2021.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold transits the Taiwan Strait while conducting routine operations underway Wednesday.
China has also showcased its military strength in the region this week with multiple exercises, according to state media.
Access to two areas in the northern South China Sea was restricted this week because of the maneuvers, according to an article in the state tabloid Global Times.
"Although China's military exercises are not likely to be directly related to UK warships, they demonstrate that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is at a high level of combat readiness," the report said.
WarshipsSouth China Sea