Britain’s First Sea Lord, Adm. Tony Radakin, was in Washington, yesterday, where he was talking up “Global Britain” and aiming it at China. “I think we’ve been very clear in our integrated review that through a security lens, we see Russia as being a distinct threat and we see China as being a challenge and a competitor,” Radakin told reporters today at the U.S. Navy Museum, reported US Naval Institute News. “And I think when we talk about a tilt to the Indo-Pacific, it’s about recognizing the economic weight of the Indo-Pacific. By 2040 to 2050, 40 percent of the world’s GDP is going to be harbored in that region. So we’re an outward-facing maritime trading nation that has interests all around the globe. And therefore we’re reaching out and following those interests. And that to me – it’s incredibly normal. It’s part of our nation’s history and trading traditions [you mean, like the 19th-Century opium trade, Admiral?—ed.). And that’s what’s happening with the Indo-Pacific.”