Like a proselytising lay minister naively intent on calming troubled waters, foreign secretary James Cleverly flew into Beijing this week on a whinge and a prayer. The whinge comprised a long list of British grievances, ranging from China’s attitude to Ukraine and Hong Kong to its spying on UK officials and sanctions on MPs.
Cleverly’s prayer was that his hosts would not realise that, when it comes to pursuing a coherent China policy based on deliberate, principled choices backed by political will and economic muscle, rudderless Britain is all at sea – but that Chinese leaders would kindly take notice of what he had to say anyway.
