In a highly provocative tone, Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey has boasted the UK's readiness to engage in a fight in the Pacific if conflict breaks out over the island of Taiwan, according to the Telegraph on Sunday, while the report described such remarks as the most robust from a British representative on the subject of possible engagement in a future war in the region. 

Chinese observers slammed the blatant remarks over China's internal affair, saying it was a show of residual British colonial mentality. 

Healey made the remarks on Sunday, according to the report, when he was speaking aboard the HMS Prince of Wales alongside Richard Marles, Australia's deputy prime minister, as the ship docked in Darwin to join military exercises with allies, including the US.

Healey was asked by The Telegraph what the UK is doing to help the island of Taiwan "prepare for potential escalation from China." He was quoted as saying: "If we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the UK are nations that will fight together. We exercise together and by exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together."

However, Healey later said he was speaking in "general terms", and said the UK would prefer to see any disputes in the Indo-Pacific resolved "peacefully" and "diplomatically."

When asked whether the UK may engage more formally with Taiwan region, Healey reportedly said: "There's no change in the UK's approach to Taiwan."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly made clear its position that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair and brooks no external interference. China will absolutely not allow any person or any force to separate Taiwan from China in any way and will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Zhang Junshe, a military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Monday that the British defense chief's remarks are merely a manifestation of the UK's embarrassing pledge of loyalty to its allies. 

The HMS Prince of Wales carrier group sailed with advanced F-35 fighter jets from Singapore to northern Australia for the first time since 1997, and will continue toward Japan, where it is likely to pass close to Taiwan, according to the Telegraph. 

As part of its National Security Strategy published earlier this year, the UK Government recognized that "there is a particular risk of escalation around Taiwan," the report said, while noting that the decision to send the HMS Prince of Wales, which is the UK's largest strike carrier group, on a nine-month deployment through the Pacific is indicative of the UK's awareness of this rising threat level. 

Some politicians of Western countries are eager to stir up trouble, fabricating the "China threat" narrative and inciting opposition to China in the region, a practice that is highly toxic, with which China should always stay alert, Zhang said.

Also, according to the UK Defence Journal, while the UK has stopped short of adopting the US' policy of "strategic ambiguity," Healey's remarks underscore the extent to which Britain is reinforcing its "Indo-Pacific commitments under the Integrated Review and AUKUS frameworks." 

Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday that it was yet another example of residual British colonial mentality.

Observers also pointed out that, amid warming China-Australia relations highlighted by the Australian Prime Minister's successful July visit to China, the British defense official's remarks attempt to place Canberra in a difficult position. Full alignment with the UK and the US is not a wise choice, Chen noted.