Queen's message to China

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Michael Breen

Queen's message to China

Posted : 2016-05-16 16:37

Updated : 2016-05-16 16:44

By Michael Breen

A video which catches Queen Elizabeth in an unguarded moment telling a senior policewoman that Chinese officials with President Xi Jinping on his visit to Britain last October had been "rude" has prompted a slew of commentary.

None of it, however, gets to the heart of the matter.

The blog posts and columns I've seen all try to link it to a broader context: rising China, Britain's status as an ex-superpower now interested in good business relations, spitting and other problems.

But this incident is not about those things. It's about diplomacy.

The conversation with the Queen and Police Commander Lucy D'Orsi, who had been responsible for security during President Xi's visit, revealed that the Chinese delegation had among other things threatened the British ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward, with abandoning the state visit. "They were very rude to the ambassador," the Queen said. "Extraordinary."

The Chinese themselves have been rather quiet because news stories about the Queen's comment have been blocked. The exception is The Global Times, a newspaper that is linked to the Chinese Communist Party, which reacted with Trump-like vigor:

"The West in modern times has risen to the top and created a brilliant civilization, but their media is full of reckless ‘gossip fiends' who bare their fangs and brandish their claws and are very narcissistic, retaining the bad manners of 'barbarians.'"

The article then added this put-down, worthy of a British aristocrat: "As they experience constant exposure to the 5,000 years of continuous Eastern civilization, we believe they will make progress (in their manners)."

This weak attempt to deflect criticism conceals the fact that foreign ministry officials in China, and in every other country, know what this issue is really all about.

It is not about the Chinese. Nobody is saying that they are a rude people. The problem is with its diplomats.

Consider this story that I heard from the former head of the China desk in one country's foreign ministry. The first task my friend had was to handle a high-level visit to his country. He soon learned that the Chinese approach to planning such visits was to issue instructions to the country being visited and reject any issues as "excuses" for the host nation to take care of.

For example, the Chinese intended to fly their 250-strong delegation directly to a town where they had investments, spend a night there, and fly to the capital the next day for official meetings. When our man suggested a different itinerary involving local planes, because the runway at the town's airport was not long enough to handle a jumbo jet, he was rebuffed.

"We've got three months before the visit so you have time to extend the runway," was the reply.

"Even if we could do that, we still have a problem in that the only hotel in the town has just 40 rooms," he said.

"Well, you will have to take care of that as well," the Chinese said.

And so it went for a few days until my friend stood up and declared, "The trip is off."

"You can't do that," his counterpart complained. "You don't have the authority."

"I can and I do," he said and walked out.

A week or two later, he was summoned to the office of his deputy minister.

"G-day, mate," the deputy minister said (oops, what a giveaway).

"G-day, mate."

"Mate, I've got a letter here," the boss said, waving a piece of paper. "It's from my opposite number in Beijing. He mentions you by name. He says you are, quote, ‘uncooperative, inflexible, and arrogant.'"

"Oh crap, I'm being fired," my friend thought.

"Congratulations," the deputy minister said. "It normally takes at least six months before a new desk head gets a letter like this. But you've managed it in six weeks. Well done."

The problem for the Chinese, my friend said, is not that they are inherently rude, but that they are given orders which they are expected to execute. It is a career-risking move to come back to their bosses to fine-tune things after talking with their foreign counterparts. Instead, they put pressure on them and then make formal complaints against those who resist.

So, what was the Queen's message? There are two interpretations.

If the "gaffe" was deliberate, then it represents unprecedented royal advice to China to get its diplomacy in line with global standards of courtesy and tradition so that it may engage in civil exchanges with allies and foes alike in capital cities around the world.

If the comment was intended to be private, I am sure it was the royal equivalent of "Congratulations, mate" and that the police commander will be high on the Queen's next honor's list.

Michael Breen is the CEO of Insight Communications Consultants, a public relations company, and author of The Koreans and Kim Jong-il: North Korea's Dear Leader.