'Barbarians' in UK media should learn manners from 5,000 years of Chinese history
While the rest of the world is discussing unguarded comments made by Queen Elizabeth II saying that Chinese officials were "very rude" during Xi Jinping's state visit last year, Chinese state media has only seen fit to author a single editorial on the subject.
Chinese-language editorial (see below) published earlier today, the Global Times said that "barbarians" in the British media had blown the incident out of proportion and they could stand to learn some manners from 5,000 years of Chinese culture, via SCMP:
“The West in modern times has risen to the top and created a brilliant civilization, but their media is full of reckless ‘gossip fiends’ who bare their fangs and brandish their claws and are very narcissistic, retaining the bad manners of ‘barbarians’,” it said in an editorial.
“As they experience constant exposure to the 5,000 years of continuous Eastern civilisation, we believe they will make progress” when it comes to manners, it added in the Chinese-language piece, which was not published in English.
For its part, the Global Times simply shrugged off the Queen's comments: “It is not surprising that there are off the record complaints. Chinese diplomats must have mocked British officials privately."
The Queen mocked Chinese officials in private comments that were made public during a garden party in Buckingham Palace. The 90-year-old monarch spoke candidly with the officer in charge of security during last year's state visit -- which was said to have kicked off the "Golden Era in UK-China relations" -- while a camera rolled nearby, picking up their conversation.
The video and the Queen's remarks have made headlines across the world. However, the official reaction in China has been very muted. When asked by reporters at a regular Q&A session yesterday if that "Golden Era" still continues today, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang opted to neither confirm nor deny.
Felicia Sonmez from The Wall Street Journal also asked if China thinks that the video was released on purpose. "I think you should refer your question to those who put the footage on the website," Lu replied, though that question was later deleted from the official transcript of the briefing.
Meanwhile, a report on the Queen's comments carried by BBC World News was blanked out in China.
Last October, both sides declared that the state visit was "very successful." The Queen herself said that it was “a milestone in the unprecedented year of co-operation and friendship between the United Kingdom and China.” Prime Minister David Cameron said that the trip had managed to drum up $58 billion in Chinese investment.
With those economic ties in mind, the Global Times sees the Queen's comments as very minor. “The Sino-UK relationship will not be influenced by this. The Golden Era is based on profound interests,” the editorial said.
Of course, the Queen wasn't the only one to make an epic political gaffe this week. While talking to Her Royal Majesty and the Archbishop of Canterbury at Buckingham Palace, David Cameron boasted about the quality of attendees he has arriving at an anti-corruption summit in London later in the week, seemingly unaware of the cameras that recorded him saying:
"We have got the Nigerians - actually we have got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain."
He went on: "Nigeria and Afghanistan - possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world."
The Global Times editorial took a jab at these twin blunders, writing: "But among the Western countries, Britain is one of those that gets caught with its pants down and exposes itself most often.” It's hard to argue with that assessment, following Cameron's remarks, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urged the UK to return assets stolen by corrupt officials. "I am not going to demand any apology from anybody. What I am demanding is the return of the assets," Buhari said at the anti-graft event.
Many have argued that while Cameron's comments may have just been foolish, the Queen's comments were publicized in order to cause chaos in improving UK-China relations, as an indirect attack against Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne. The Global Times was quick to reject this claim, saying that "if they had deliberately done so, that would have been truly crude and rude."
Meanwhile, others have pointed to Queen Elizabeth's umbrella as the true mastermind behind this whole fiasco, The Daily Telegraph reports:
Sources told The Daily Telegraph that the reason the Queen’s comments were audible on the TV footage was because her clear plastic umbrella, which she uses to allow people to see her while sheltering from the rain, had acted like the cone in a loudspeaker, amplifying her voice towards the microphone.
“If she had been holding an umbrella made of fabric, it wouldn’t have happened,” an insider said.
“But because it’s plastic, it reflects the sound like a satellite dish.” - SCMP
社评：英媒爆炒女王私话，八卦术折服全球
英国女王伊丽莎白二世10日在白金汉宫花园举办下午茶会，与伦敦警察署女警官德奥丝有一段私聊。女王的摄影师把它拍了下来，后来不知怎么着漏了出去，英国媒体一顿爆炒。
德奥丝是去年中国领导人对英国国事访问时安保工作的“警方首席指挥官”，视频中她向女王抱怨中方与她打交道的官员“粗鲁”，做得“不合外交礼仪”。女王应和了她。英国媒体对这段视频如获至宝，不仅有些当“头条”报，还分别向英中外交部以及英王室问询态度和反应。
英国王室和外交部的回应都是：中国领导人对英国的国事访问获得圆满成功，各方通力密切合作，确保了国事访问的顺利进行。中国外交部也做了类似表态，强调访问的成功，以及双方对两国工作团队的努力给予了高度认同。
西方媒体最喜欢报花边消息，而英国王室和英国政府似乎中招的时候最多，经常被媒体揪住小辫。就在同一天，卡梅伦首相同女王和大主教等的私聊也被拍了视频，卡梅伦当时聊得很嗨，称尼日利亚和阿富汗“可能是世界上最腐败的两个国家”，而尼阿两国领导人12日、也就是今天将参加伦敦举行的国际反腐败会议。
国家关系越亲密，官员们打交道越多，彼此“有看不顺眼的时候”应当说很正-常，“自己人”私下抱怨几句也没啥大不了的。中国外交官私下里想必也奚落过英国的官僚们。中国互联网上的评论是公开的，去年女王曾被中国网民比喻成“西太后”，卡梅伦被比喻成“李中堂”，当时编排他们的段子红遍中国网络社区。
然而中国外交官们做事严谨，很多西方大国也搞得跟“外交无小事”似的，媒体很难逮住官员们议论他国的“私话”。在这方面英国即使在西方国家中也是最经常“露内裤”和“走光”的之一，跟它有一拼的是美国，白宫最近几届的主人似乎都有“忘记关麦克风”的时候。
不可想象英国官方故意把这些视频漏出去，因为相信他们知道一旦故意那样做，才是真正的粗鲁和无礼。那是很不文明的市侩做法，自尊的英王室大概更会重视那样的底线。
然而“整个英国”还是有些嬉皮士，英媒对八卦的迷恋似乎到了要让一切都“腥”起来的程度。看在这个国家对人类近代史贡献颇丰的份上，让我们主动为它做个解释吧：人都会有毛病，伟大的国家也是一样。 相信中英关系不会受到此次事件的影响，两国间“黄金时代”是由深厚利益打造的，而在这两个历史悠久的国度里，理性都有着不可撼动的地位。
中国已经站在拥有了全球影响因而树大招风的位置上，世界上的秘闻奇事层出不穷，但那些能跟中国沾上边的，就更容易被发现出来，炒成“一件事”。中国人终将会见怪不怪，耳根子也会越磨越硬。
西方自近代以来走到了前面，创造了辉煌文明。但那里媒体不管不顾的“八卦狂”们既张牙舞爪，又很自恋，似乎留了些“蛮夷”的不文雅。然而我们同样相信，在与东方五千年文明的不断接触中，他们会进步的。
国际新闻_环球网
相关新闻
- 社评：英国人千万别把自己的鸡毛当令箭2016-02-14 01:26
- 社评：英国加入亚投行测出美国小心眼2015-03-14 03:13
- 社评：香港政改，英国做个自重的观众吧2014-09-04 08:37
- 社评：英媒小家子气，把英国拉矮一截2014-06-18 02:35
