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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Xi Jinping UK visit roundup: red flags, red carpets and Greene King | Xi Jinping UK visit roundup: red flags, red carpets and Greene King |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Xi Jinping has been in the UK for three days – and Britain has really rolled out the red carpet | Xi Jinping has been in the UK for three days – and Britain has really rolled out the red carpet |
| After banquets, processions and trade talks, it’s the last day of the Chinese president’s trip to the UK. | After banquets, processions and trade talks, it’s the last day of the Chinese president’s trip to the UK. |
| Related: Plenty to worry about regarding Britain’s close relationship with China | Letters | |
| Unlike in the previous days’ activities, red is not featuring prominently – he’s visiting the ground of Manchester City, not his reported favourite team, Manchester United, the Red Devils. | Unlike in the previous days’ activities, red is not featuring prominently – he’s visiting the ground of Manchester City, not his reported favourite team, Manchester United, the Red Devils. |
| Related: Chairman Mao must be smiling in heaven | Letters | |
| But there’s been a definitive colour scheme to the rest of the visit. | But there’s been a definitive colour scheme to the rest of the visit. |
| There have been many red carpets | There have been many red carpets |
| Xi has been courted at Downing Street, attended a lavish state banquet in his honour hosted by the Queen, and spent two nights at Buckingham Palace. | Xi has been courted at Downing Street, attended a lavish state banquet in his honour hosted by the Queen, and spent two nights at Buckingham Palace. |
| There have been red flags | There have been red flags |
| On the first day of his visit, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were whisked down the Mall in the Queen’s diamond jubilee state coach. The road was lined with hundreds of pro-China demonstrators, many in coordinated outfits from mysteriously marked boxes, and waving red China flags. | On the first day of his visit, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were whisked down the Mall in the Queen’s diamond jubilee state coach. The road was lined with hundreds of pro-China demonstrators, many in coordinated outfits from mysteriously marked boxes, and waving red China flags. |
| There have been red uniforms | There have been red uniforms |
| The opening ceremony to welcome Xi to Britain saw him inspect a guard of honour at Horse Guards Parade. | The opening ceremony to welcome Xi to Britain saw him inspect a guard of honour at Horse Guards Parade. |
| There have been red decorations | There have been red decorations |
| The floral arrangements at the Guildhall banquet were on point – on the day David Cameron announced a £6bn deal had been reached with China General Nuclear Power Corporation for a nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset. | The floral arrangements at the Guildhall banquet were on point – on the day David Cameron announced a £6bn deal had been reached with China General Nuclear Power Corporation for a nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset. |
| There have been coordinated red outfits | There have been coordinated red outfits |
| The home secretary, Theresa May, greeted Xi in a matching ensemble of red shoes, red dress and red hat. Cameron’s tie did not appear to get the memo. | The home secretary, Theresa May, greeted Xi in a matching ensemble of red shoes, red dress and red hat. Cameron’s tie did not appear to get the memo. |
| Even more coordinated red outfits | Even more coordinated red outfits |
| The state banquet in Xi’s honour at Buckingham Palace was the first one to be attended by the Duchess of Cambridge – and Kate’s outfit was very on-message. | The state banquet in Xi’s honour at Buckingham Palace was the first one to be attended by the Duchess of Cambridge – and Kate’s outfit was very on-message. |
| And there have been pints of ... Greene King | And there have been pints of ... Greene King |
| There was no Red Stripe on offer when Cameron and Xi popped into a pub near the prime minister’s retreat at Chequers. The leaders’ choices were pints of Greene King IPA, though they might have enjoyed it more by leaving it to settle. | There was no Red Stripe on offer when Cameron and Xi popped into a pub near the prime minister’s retreat at Chequers. The leaders’ choices were pints of Greene King IPA, though they might have enjoyed it more by leaving it to settle. |
| Anyone would think the UK was really trying hard to make Xi feel important | Anyone would think the UK was really trying hard to make Xi feel important |
| In speeches to dignitaries at Buckingham Palace and to MPs and peers at the Palace of Westminster, Xi took many opportunities to remind his audience that the UK and China were becoming “increasingly interdependent”. | In speeches to dignitaries at Buckingham Palace and to MPs and peers at the Palace of Westminster, Xi took many opportunities to remind his audience that the UK and China were becoming “increasingly interdependent”. |
| At the Queen’s banquet, he used a similar phrase: “With growing interdependence and interwoven interests, countries in the world are increasingly becoming a community of shared future.” | At the Queen’s banquet, he used a similar phrase: “With growing interdependence and interwoven interests, countries in the world are increasingly becoming a community of shared future.” |
| But one thing the government says it is definitely not doing, is kowtowing to China in order to get £30bn | But one thing the government says it is definitely not doing, is kowtowing to China in order to get £30bn |
| David Cameron does not agree with his former adviser Steve Hilton that Xi’s visit is “the worst national humiliation since we went cap in hand to the IMF in the 1970s”. Nor with China expert James McGregor, who warned: “If you act like a panting puppy, the object of your attention is going to think they have got you on a leash.” | David Cameron does not agree with his former adviser Steve Hilton that Xi’s visit is “the worst national humiliation since we went cap in hand to the IMF in the 1970s”. Nor with China expert James McGregor, who warned: “If you act like a panting puppy, the object of your attention is going to think they have got you on a leash.” |
| There’s no room for getting red-faced over China’s human rights record, or the steel industry | There’s no room for getting red-faced over China’s human rights record, or the steel industry |
| Cameron promised he would raise the issue of job losses at UK steel plants, blamed in part on cheaper Chinese imports, as well as the country’s chequered human rights record, but said those would be part of “many issues” to discuss. | Cameron promised he would raise the issue of job losses at UK steel plants, blamed in part on cheaper Chinese imports, as well as the country’s chequered human rights record, but said those would be part of “many issues” to discuss. |
| It fell to the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, the only UK journalist granted a question at the press conference with the leaders, to grill the Chinese president on the issues. “Is there any price that is worth paying in order to further our business interests with China?” she asked. | It fell to the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, the only UK journalist granted a question at the press conference with the leaders, to grill the Chinese president on the issues. “Is there any price that is worth paying in order to further our business interests with China?” she asked. |
| Britain is going into closer relations with China with its ‘eyes wide open’, insists the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond. | Britain is going into closer relations with China with its ‘eyes wide open’, insists the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond. |
| Not with rose- (or red-?) tinted glasses... | Not with rose- (or red-?) tinted glasses... |