The United Kingdom's envoy makes the "Japanese woman" blunder in China

BEIJING: Britain's new Foreign Minister made a strange start in China today by seeking to win favors from his hosts by mentioning his Chinese wife, but accidentally called him "Japanese."

China and Japan have been traditional rivals for centuries. Although relations have improved somewhat in recent times, they remain sensitive because of problems such as the bloody occupation of parts of China by Japan in the 1930s and 1940s.

On his first official visit to China, Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt quickly recognized the "terrible" mistake.

"My wife is Japanese – my wife is Chinese, it's a terrible mistake to commit," he told his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"My wife is Chinese and my children are half Chinese, so we have Chinese grandparents who live in Xian and have strong family ties in China," he added, referring to the family. ancient city of Xian.

Former Minister of Health, Hunt is married to Lucia Guo, with whom he has three children.

He succeeds Boris Johnson, a blunderer, who described Africans as "piccaninnies waving the flag" with "smiling watermelons" in a column of newspapers – after Johnson resigned dramatically on the Brexit of Prime Minister Theresa May. .

Hunt is in China with the aim of strengthening trade ties with Beijing before the exit of Britain from the European Union next year.

Other topics on the table should be "the importance of multilateralism and free trade and ways for the UK and China to work together on global challenges such as climate change, development , security and non-proliferation Korea, "said his office before the trip.