Britain’s South China Sea ‘provocation’ puts post-Brexit trade talks at risk, warns official Beijing mouthpiece
Editorial in state-run China Daily says decision to send warship past disputed Paracel Islands could hamper talks on post-EU free-trade deal
A British Royal Navy warship that sailed close to islands in the South China Sea claimed by China risked hampering any talks about a free-trade agreement after Britain leaves the European Union, a major Chinese state-run newspaper said on Friday.
China and Britain agreed last month to look at the possibility of reaching a “top notch” post-Brexit free-trade deal which, if struck, would be an important political win for Britain’s Conservative government.
“China and the UK had agreed to actively explore the possibility of discussing a free-trade agreement after Brexit. Any act that harms China’s core interests will only put a spanner in the works,” the official China Daily newspaper said in an editorial.
Britain has long courted China for a post-Brexit trade deal and talked up a “golden era” in ties, although any formal talks could not begin until Britain officially leaves the European Union next year and typically take many years to conclude.
The HMS Albion, a 22,000-tonne amphibious warfare vessel, sailed near the Paracel Islands claimed by China last month, Reuters reported on Thursday, prompting an angry reaction from China which called it a “provocation”.
The Paracels are occupied entirely by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.