Jeremy Hunt is off to a flying start as the UK's new Foreign Secretary.
Following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson (perhaps a bit too closely it seems), he's taken the chance to blunder through his Beijing debut in a highly memorable fashion.
China and Japan have been rivals dating back centuries. While relationships between the two countries have improved, Japan's occupation of China up until the 1940's is still a somewhat touchy subject.
You can imagine, then, how quickly the temperature dropped when Hunt, in a bid to ingratiate himself with his Chinese hosts, loudly announced "my wife is Japanese".
To make matters more confusing though...she isn't.
READ MORE: The worst foreign secretary ever? Here's a reminder of some of Boris's blunders
Lucia Guo, a former health minister and Hunt's wife, is in fact from China.
Hunt quickly acknowledged the error before stating "That’s a terrible mistake to make."
The Foreign Secretary was visiting Beijing to discuss trade links between Britain and China.
From Boris Johnson to Jeremy Hunt, The Jouker suspects that the UK's long-running tradition of foreign gaffes and international embarrassment isn't coming to an end any time soon.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel