Can the British military really stand up to China?

China sees control of the waters around it as crucial to maintaining its sovereignty and economic strength.

The West fears that growing naval strength is part of a long term plan for China to invade Taiwan.

China relies heavily on Australian iron ore to supply all its mighty heavy industry and construction.

Australia has the largest global supply of the metal at present.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world’s biggest player in chip foundries.

It makes around 50pc of the global supply of semiconductors.

Taiwan is particularly important to the People's Republic, which cannot make the chips inside the hardware.

The UK and Australia are both full democracies’ like Taiwan.

China would need to be able to move troops across the Taiwan Strait safely.

This would require at least partial control of the sea and the sky above it.