Britain could have hurt its chances of sealing a post- Brexit free trade deal with China, a major Chinese state-run newspaper warned yesterday after a Royal Navy warship sailed close to islands in the South China Sea claimed by China. China and Britain agreed last month to look at the possibility of reaching a "top notch" post-Brexit free trade deal which, if stuck, 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.

Warship sail-by could hurt trade talks- Chinese paper. (2018, September, 8). The Philippine Star, p. 15.