British Defense Secretary John Healey delivers a speech as the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales arrived at the Tokyo International Cruise Termainal at the Tokyo port on Thursday, August 28, 2025. Photo: VCG

British Defense Secretary John Healey denied a previous report claiming he suggested his country was ready to fight if war broke out over island of Taiwan, saying his remarks had been misrepresented, Nikkei Asia reported on Friday. A Chinese expert suggested Healey's firsthand experience of the reality of UK's military power may explain why he walked back his earlier comments. 

Healey arrived in Japan on Wednesday for talks with Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen and other officials, according to NHK. 

In July, 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."

Healey made the remarks 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.

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."

In an exclusive interview with Nikkei Asia, which was published on Friday, Healey said last month's Telegraph report on his comments made when he was on board the HMS Prince of Wales, which is currently harbored in Tokyo with his Australian counterpart "was entirely wrong." Healey said, the "Telegraph reporter clearly wrote the opposite."

In terms of the UK response if conflict were to break out over the island of Taiwan, Healey avoided a direct answer to Nikkei Asia, saying he was "obviously not going to speculate on a hypothetical situation." He emphasized the UK's official stance of seeking a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question, while adding that "there is no place for threats or the use of coercion."

Healey's rebuttal of The Telegraph's earlier reports may amount to a walk-back of his previous remarks, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Saturday. Song noted that Healey may have attempted to retract his earlier comments after witnessing firsthand the decline in the UK's military capacity during the voyage.

Song cited as an example a UK aircraft carrier-based F-35B stealth fighter jet reportedly made an emergency landing in Japan on August 10 due to a malfunction during a joint drill with countries including Japan and the US. This marked at least the second such incident, following an F-35B from the same carrier being stranded in India for more than a month for repairs in June.

In response to Healey's previous remarks that UK is ready to engage in a fight in the Pacific if conflict breaks out over Taiwan, Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson from China's Ministry of National Defense said on July 30 that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair and brooks no foreign interference. 

"We urge the UK side to be prudent on its words and actions concerning the Taiwan question, refrain from sending wrong signals to separatist forces for "Taiwan independence", and avoid undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. No one should underestimate the firm will and strong ability of the PLA to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Zhang.