Xi treated to pageantry and praise
AS HE revelled in the pomp and pageantry of a state visit, from the marching bands of the ceremonial welcome to the glittering royal feast of the banquet at Buckingham Palace, Chinese President Xi Jinping might have stopped for a moment to ponder the difference between a communist dictatorship and a constitutional monarchy.
What they have in common is a way of making sure that the troublesome voices of dissent do nothing to spoil the official celebrations when there are deals to be signed and official bonds to be forged.
On the first day of his visit with wife Peng Liyuan, the head of China’s Communist Party would have been all but unaware of the protests by Tibetan campaigners, as they were drowned out by the massed chants of Chinese government supporters. And if any of his official contacts were so undiplomatic as to raise the vexing questions of steel dumping, or controversial nuclear deals, or human rights, they did so behind closed doors.
It began with a ceremonial welcome at the Horse Guards Parade, where the visitors were formally greeted by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and ended with a state banquet where the Duchess of Cambridge all but stole the show in a glittering tiara.
Earlier, the visitors had been welcomed at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge by the Prince of Wales – whose views on human rights abuses in Tibet have not made him a friend of China – and the Duchess of Cornwall.
If Prince Charles – the only one of the Queen’s children not to attend the banquet – harboured any resentment at having to consort with men whose predecessors he once described as ‘‘appalling old waxworks’’, he did his best to keep his feelings to himself. He entertained the president and his wife to tea at Clarence House.
Xi had kind words for Charles, praising his efforts to preserve Chinese culture.
The Chinese, naturally, loved the pageantry. As they were driven off to Buckingham Palace in their carriages and landaus, delighted officials peered out to wave at the television cameras. As a man from the Chinese embassy said, with a broad smile upon his face: ‘‘That was the most exciting moment in my diplomatic career.’’
Then it was off to the palace for lunch, with the Queen and the president in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach. At the palace the couples exchanged gifts, with Xi giving the Queen two of his wife’s albums. Peng was a famous folk singer with the People’s Liberation Army long before her husband became a well-known politician.
At the banquet, guests dined on turbot and venison in the palace ballroom and heard the Queen and the president exchange flattering remarks about each other’s nations.
Only two people could have sounded a jarring note. However, Charles was nowhere to be seen, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was safely tucked away halfway down the table where he could not cause any trouble.
Nothing was left to chance. British Prime Minister David Cameron must have been very pleased – and Xi very impressed.