China might not be too furious, yet, with Britain revoking Huawei’s access to its 5G network. But when it comes to Britain’s looming aircraft carrier deployment to the South China Sea, well, that’s another matter.

In a not-so-diplomatic article on Wednesday, People’s Liberation Army-Navy specialist Zhang Junshe threatened London over HMS Queen Elizabeth’s inaugural operational deployment to the South China Sea. Playing to a favorite Chinese propaganda narrative that the U.K. must accept Beijing’s present imperialism as penance for its imperial legacies, Zhang gloated that the aircraft carrier’s “sea trials were not as smooth as the United Kingdom expected. The U.K. is bluffing. It should know its limitations before attempting to strong-arm China, which is no longer a weak military country to be bullied as it was during the Opium Wars.”