The visit of Britain's Carrier Strike Group in an operation involving 40 nations to the South China Sea is not designed to antagonise, but show countries such as China that it believes in the international law of the sea, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.
Johnson said the visit, to be led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, would also help to project British soft power such as a belief in democracy and the rule of law.
"One of the things we'll be doing clearly is showing to our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea, and in a confident but not a confrontational way, we will be vindicating that point," he said.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; writing by Kate Holton; editing by Alistair Smout)
