British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted to a "terrible mistake" after describing his Chinese wife as Japanese during a diplomatic mission to Beijing.
Mr Hunt was hoping to use the visit to boost trade links and address sensitive issues including the human rights situation in Hong Kong.
'My wife is Japanese. My wife is Chinese, sorry. Terrible mistake to make' - Jeremy Hunt pic.twitter.com/OpyVjPepwu
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 30, 2018
He may have hoped that his personal connection to China through his wife Lucia could help forge strong links with the Beijing government, but that was undermined when he got her nationality wrong.
At a meeting with Chinese counterparts, Mr Hunt said: "My wife is Japanese. My wife is Chinese, sorry. A terrible mistake to make."
Mr Hunt was using the visit to show Britain's commitment to deepening ties post-Brexit between the nations.
Trade, North Korea, nuclear weapons and climate change were among the topics up for discussion.
Mr Hunt later tweeted an apology to his wife:
Rule #1 as a new Foreign Sec: when reflecting in English with the Chinese on a conversation you had with them in Japanese about your Chinese wife, don’t get any of those mixed up! Apologies to the long-suffering Mrs H...!
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 30, 2018
