The Queen calls Chinese officials ‘very rude’
Queen Elizabeth II has been seen saying that Chinese officials were 'very rude' during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit in Oct'15. At a Buckingham Palace garden party, the Queen was in conversation with Lucy D'Orsi-a senior police officer, who was discussing the Chinese officials' behavior towards the British ambassador and her during Jinping's visit. The Queen said that the treatment was 'extraordinary'.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife visited the United Kingdom; it was the first visit made by a Chinese leader to the UK in ten years. Jinping said that the UK and China had become more interdependent and a community of shared interests. Queen Elizabeth II had stated that the milestone visit was expected to take the Anglo-Chinese ties to new heights.
When a Buckingham Palace official introduced Lucy D'Orsi to the Queen, he informed that the policewoman was the Gold Commander and had overseen the security during the Chinese visit to the UK. The Queen immediately responded by saying, "Oh, bad luck!" She stated that she was aware that the Chinese were very rude to Britain's ambassador to China- Barbara Woodward during the visit.
D'Orsi was "seriously undermined by the Chinese, but she managed to hold her own and remain in command," said a Buckingham Palace official. D'Orsi said that it was a 'testing time' as the Chinese officials' behavior was rude and undiplomatic. She recollected an incident when the Chinese walked out of a meeting and told them (Woodward and D'Orsi) that their UK-trip was off.
The Buckingham Palace and Metropolitan police officials declined to comment on the Queen's remarks made during her private conversations. However, the Palace said that the Chinese visit was 'extremely' successful. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated that the visit was a little stressful but successful. The Queen rarely makes remarks on political matters, and the media are asked not to overhear her private conversations.
The Queen's remarks were not the first undiplomatic remarks made by the British. In November 2005, Prince Charles made unflattering comments and called the ageing Chinese Communist leaders as a 'bunch of appalling old waxworks'. Incidentally, the British Prime Minister Cameron called Afghanistan and Nigeria 'possibly the two most corrupt countries' while discussing the London anti-corruption summit with the Queen on 10 May'16.
Chinese Foreign Ministry denied to address the Queen's remarks but, said that Jinping's visit was very successful. It added that both China and UK made tremendous efforts to make the visit a success.
The Chinese regarded the Queen's remarks on their officials as sensitive; the remarks were censored and couldn't be found on the Internet. Government officials cut the BBC's signal when it was reporting the incident. Global Times newspaper lashed out at the Western media for exaggerating the incident. The newspaper closely associated with the Communist Party said that the incident wouldn't affect the Anglo-Chinese ties.
The commentary in the Global Times called Western media 'barbaric' and stated that it could learn from China. It added that the Western media was stuck in uncivilized barbarianism because of its craze for egotism and gossip.
