The Communist party’s best-selling tabloid has accused the British media of “hyping up” the Queen’s comments about “rude” Chinese officials and spreading malicious “gossip” in order to hurt ties between Beijing and London. But such “hyped up” coverage would not affect the “golden” relationship between Britain and China, the Global Times argued. In a prominent editorial on Thursday, the Chinese language Global Times newspaper hit back at criticism of its country’s officials, blaming the controversy on the British press. The editorial pages of the Global Times’ English language edition were also bereft of any mention of Her Majesty’s dim view of Chinese officialdom. The editorial – which was headlined, ‘British media hypes up the Queen’s private conversation, the whole world lauds the UK’s gossiping skills’ – claimed Fleet Street had reacted to the Queen’s comments as if it had discovered “treasure”.

Source: The Guardian May 11, 2016 23:20 UTC