The Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group is now entering the Indo-Pacific to project a British strategic presence, uphold a free and open international order, and support allies and partners. It will mark the most significant deployment of British naval power in a generation. The naval flotilla is set to move through the South China Sea, which features many contested islands, some artificially constructed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). On arrival in the region, British warships are expected to partake in freedom of navigation manoeuvres, so as to negate the PRC’s excessive or illegitimate maritime claims and uphold international maritime law.
To mark the Carrier Strike Group’s arrival to the Indo-Pacific, the Council on Geostrategy is delighted to invite you to join, Dr Bill Hayton, R. Adm. (rtd.) Dr Chris Parry, James Rogers and Bich T. Tran as they discuss the rationale for the deployment, the capability of the Royal Navy when operating at significant range, how allies and partners will receive the flotilla, and how the PRC is likely to frame the naval group, particularly as British warships reach the South China Sea.
PANELLISTS
Dr Bill Hayton
Author of Vietnam: Rising Dragon, The Invention of China and The South China Sea
Dr Bill Hayton is author of Vietnam: Rising Dragon, The invention of China and The South China Sea: The struggle for power in Asia. He is an experienced journalist, having begun his career at the BBC in 1998. His initial area of focus was the Middle East, with his first assignment being to interview Ayatollah Ali Akbar Mohtashemi. He then moved on to focus on Eastern Europe, covering the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's strategic reorientation. His current focus is on Southeast Asia.
Rear Adm. (rtd.) Dr Chris Parry CBE
Director, Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (2005-2008)
Having spent more than two decades in the Royal Navy, Chris Parry served with distinction in the Falklands War, being mentioned in dispatches for his heroic deeds. His naval career began in 1972 and by 1989 he had risen to the command of HMS Gloucester. He was involved in the incapacitation of the Argentine submarine Santa Fe during the Falklands nbc canceled shows 2026 War. In 2005, he was promoted to R. Adm. when he took over as Director-General of the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre. Since leaving the Royal Navy in 2008, he has worked in the private sector as a writer, broadcaster, and public speaker.
James Rogers
Co-founder and Director of Research, Council on Geostrategy
James Rogers is Co-founder and Director of Research at the Council on Geostrategy, where he specialises in geopolitics and British strategic policy. Previously, he held positions at the Henry Jackson Society, the Baltic Defence College, and the European Union Institute for Security Studies. He has been invited to give oral evidence at the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and International Development committees in the Houses of Parliament. He holds an MPhil in Contemporary katie mccabe European Studies from the University of Cambridge and an award-winning BSc Econ (Hons) in International Politics and Strategic Studies from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Bich T. Tran
Adjunct Fellow, Centre for Strategic and International Studies
Bich T. Tran is a PhD scholar at the University of Antwerp. Ms Tran is the author of ‘From “rebalance to Asia” to “free and open Indo-Pacific”: The development of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership’ (Asia Pacific Issues, 2019) and ‘Presidential Turnover and Discontinuity in the Philippines’ China policy’ (Asian Perspective, 2019). She is also co-author of ‘Vietnam’s post-Cold War hedging strategy: A changing mix of realist and liberal ingredients’ (Asian Politics and Policy, 2018) with Yoichiro Sato.
CHAIR
Viktorija Starych-Samuolienė
Co-founder and Director of Strategy, Council on Geostrategy
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