The dispatch of warships by the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia to the South China Sea is creating extreme tension with China and it's allies like Russia.
There has been suspicion over Beijing’s motives for building the world’s largest naval force.
China
Recently, during the national assembly sessions in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping reasserted his commitment to built a world-beating fleet.
In 2018, while reviewing a portion of Chinese fleet, President Xi Jinping said that the task of building a powerful navy has never been as urgent as it was then.
China is commanding the world’s largest naval force, with more than 360 ships in active service.
It's building more modern surface combatants, aircraft carriers, fighter jets, submarines, amphibious assault ships, ballistic nuclear missile submarines, large coast guard cutters, and polar icebreakers at alarming speed.
Hong Kong’s suppression through the introduction of the security bill is a stark demonstration of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Other evidence includes forced detention, sterilisation, resettlement among the ethnic Uighur population of Xinjiang and the covering of the COVID19 source.
Russia
In December 2019, Russia held joint naval drills with Iran and China in the Indian Ocean.
Earlier this year, the three allies held similar multilateral naval exercises in the India Ocean. They rehearsed search, rescue operations and ensuring the safety of shipping.war.
The two superpowers, under the leadership of President Xi and President Putin, have prioritized strengthening their military-to-military relationship since the end of cold war.
Iran
Recently, China and Russia have both increased military and economic cooperation with Iran. Tehran has repeatedly touted its deepening relations with Beijing and Moscow as a show of diplomatic strength.
In December 2019, Iranian officials lauded the trilateral exercises as proof that Iran can outlast crippling sanctions by the western with aid from its two main allies, and declared that the drills signaled a new triple alliance in the Middle East.
All these military advancement in the South China Sea has prompted military analysts to ask many questions.
United States
The Americans have been intensifying their presence in the South China Sea.
They want to impose clout on China not only through economic and diplomatic means but also with something ‘visible’, such as warships, to scare Beijing, yes! to scare the most powerful naval force. Have they succeeded? Not to our knowledge.
In July 2021, the US Defence Secretary Gen. Lloyd Austin said Beijing has been very aggressive and coercive towards the American allies. The US Pentagon advised it's allies to join forces in the South China Sea.
The United States knows that their own fleet will appear insignificant to China. This is why the Americans are lobbying its allies to send more warships to the disputed South China Sea. The point is, they want to sell fear to Beijing and show some military supremacy.
In June 2021, a US Aircraft Carrier group led by the USS Ronald Reagan entered the South China Sea as part of a routine mission.
If the Americans or their allies take any aggressive move(military action) in the South China Sea, they would definitely pay a price. Beijing will aggressively retaliate not only through its most powerful navy in the world but also in weaponising trade, finance, cyberspace, etc.
NATO
In December 2020, NATO for the first time issued a report putting Beijing on an equal threat footing as their ally, Moscow.
With diplomatic efforts meeting a harsh response, NATO is reacting with growing alarm at China’s aggressiveness.
France
France has deployed its warship since renewing its interest in the “Far East”. Expectantly, the old colonial empire still has territories in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It maintains military facilities on Reunion Island, New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
Great Britain
In June 2021, the Great Britain dispatched its new Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to the South China Sea. The warship was expected to spearhead a multinational taskforce exercise in the South China Sea.
On 26 July, the Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed through the Luzon Strait and into the Philippine Sea after passing through the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea. It left the South China Sea after only a week in the region, apparently without making provocative moves on China.
Germany
In June 2021, Germany decided to send a frigate through the South China Sea to Japan. A press release by the US State Department, praised Germany's decision to support a rules-based international order in the South China Sea.
On 26 July, a German warship reportedly set sail for a tour, navigating in the South China Sea without confronting China, and it made a friendly port visit in Shanghai.
Canada
A Royal Canadian Navy warship sailed near the sea in January with a passage through the Taiwan Strait on its way to join exercises nearby with Australian, Indian, Japanese and American navies.
India
India has deployed warships in South China Sea. The naval taskforce is expected to expand security ties with allies in regional efforts to counter China.
Four ships including a guided missile destroyer and a missile frigate are on its way to the South China Sea.
As part of their deployment, the Indian ships will take part in annual joint war drills involving the United States, Japan and Australia off the coast of Guam.
The four countries make up the Quad, an informal group, which the US is promoting as a way to counter an assertive China.
Japan
In May 2021, Japan dispatched its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea.
The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned back in 2019 made stops in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
In July 2021, Japan navy held the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and American naval vessels in the Indian Ocean.
The 249 meter-long Izumo is as large as Japan's World War II-era carriers and can operate up to nine helicopters. It resembles the amphibious assault carriers used by U.S. Marines.
The UK, France, Germany, Canada and Netherlands have joined the "troubled waters" in opposition to Beijing's recent influence. They are providing moral and physical support to India, Japan, Australia, South Korea and the United States, which already have their warships on the Indo-Pacific region.
The United States had attempted to rally NATO allies to join forces in the South China Sea to besiege China, but the UK and Germany are seeking a balance, as the UK carrier hurried its exit from the region because it understood China's red lines and military capability. While Germany does not want to confront China in the first place.
On 26 July, a Chinese warship tracked the UK carrier group as it left the South China Sea via waters near the Dongsha Island to the island of Taiwan.
The UK carrier's restrained and short voyage to the South China Sea showed that the country maintains a balance between China and its ally the US.
On 12 July, China protested U.S. naval activities in the South China Sea. China said the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur illegally entered its waters around the disputed Paracel Islands.
This was the second time the USS Curtis Wilbur had passed through the Taiwan Strait, which didn't go well with Beijing.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet said China was advancing excessive and illegitimate maritime claims.
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