This week, the US government put on a brave face and publicly welcomed the UK's decision to cede the strategic island archipelago, but privately the US government warned that China could use the archipelago to set up eavesdropping bases. The report alleges that he was warned.
British historic newspapers times As announced yesterday, unnamed government officials were hired to support claims that officials in Washington DC and London advised Britain's new left-wing government not to cede British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). I am quoting. The archipelago includes the largest island, Diego Garcia, a volcanic atoll that is home to a strategically important military base.
The base supports transit for long-range bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, and Western warships. A British supply ship docked on the island a few days ago. However, the base is also understood to play an important role as a listening station, collecting radio communications and other intelligence from surrounding countries and strategic waterways.
The British government has rejected criticism of handing over the vital islands, insisting that Mauritius is actually not that close to Beijing and that the deal has safeguards to prevent Chinese aggression. It claimed the new deal would secure British military bases. At least 99 years. However, as mentioned above, it is important to ensure that the agreements signed today will be respected for centuries to come and that China will not use its Belt and Road Initiative debt-trap diplomacy against the Mauritian government, which is receiving the islands. dependent.
After all, Britain does not have a great recent track record of signing agreements purporting to guarantee certain rights to former colonies. The Norms Guarantee Agreement is only supposed to last 50 years, and China's actions towards Hong Kong, a former British island that was supposed to govern for centuries under the BIOT Agreement, are a critical step in this important period. It shows how precarious a position military bases are currently in.
And indeed, by signing away the sovereignty of these islands, which the British government had reportedly been warned about, it leaves a backdoor open to China. times “Informal warnings from the United States and officials' concerns that doing so could give China a strategic spying base,” he said.
British civil servants are said to have “actively” warned the government about similar issues, and ceding the island to a country with growing Chinese influence would mean China would set up “listening posts on neighboring islands”. He said there was a danger. The British government denies this claim. The Times, He said there was never such a discussion.
There have been talks with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands for years, but this week's The announcement was the most surprising. Nigel Farage MP made this point on Friday, saying: “When Parliament returns on Monday, it must debate and vote on the surrender of the Chagos Islands.
“No government should be able to surrender sovereignty without discussion, especially since this was not in Labour’s manifesto.”
Of concern, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked directly on Friday whether he intended to hand over any other territory, to which he did not provide a meaningful answer. Rupert Lowe, a member of Farage's British Reform Party, said: “Mr Starmer must immediately guarantee that Labor will not hand over any other British overseas territories.” I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urgently confirm this in writing. ”
