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As I see it
Starmer faces a hysterical backlash over new Chinese embassy
The worst features of UK politics and media, with help from ‘yellow-ribbon’ BN(O)ers, have been on full display over the ‘mega’ embassy plan
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Alex Lo has been an SCMP columnist since 2012, commenting on China and international affairs.
While China emerges as an unmistakable superpower, “Great” Britain or the “United” Kingdom increasingly sounds like self-mockery. Much of the UK outside London is threatening to descend into developing-world status. There have been at least a dozen instances of English councils declaring bankruptcy since 2018, while one in four could be insolvent by 2027.
Diplomatically, it turns out the American cousin across the Atlantic thinks nothing of the so-called special relationship, as London repeatedly endures criticism and ridicule from US President Donald Trump’s White House. The United States may be Rome, but the UK is no Greece.
It’s understandable, then, that culturally, the British political and media elites seem to be suffering from both a deep-seated superiority complex and an inferiority complex, especially when it comes to China.
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