Jeremy Hunt: British foreign minister is embarrassing himself in China

The new British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt has failed terrificly with the attempt to make himself popular with his Chinese interlocutors.

In a meeting with his colleague Wang Yi in Beijing, Hunt wanted to boast that he is married to a Chinese woman - but instead said his wife was "Japanese". Quickly he corrected himself and spoke of a "terrible mistake".

Predecessor was known for racism

Even Hunt's predecessor Boris Johnson was known for embarrassing and sometimes racist performances. He once described Africans as "flag waving" people with a "watermelon-wide smile". He used the racist word "piccaninnies", with the dark-skinned children are called derogatory.

Hunt has not been known for such failures. After his faux pas in Beijing, he quickly moved on, emphasizing that his children were "half-Chinese."

Jeremy Hunt, of bell end fame, picks up where Boris Johnson left off - attempts to impress Chinese diplomats by saying his wife is Chinese, but mistakenly says she is Japanese (video via @ProducerKathy) pic.twitter.com/Lk9acTggsU

There are "strong family ties to China through Xian's Chinese grandparents," Hunt said. The minister has three children with his wife Lucia Guo.

China and Japan have been rivals for centuries. Even though relations have recently eased somewhat, the bloody Japanese occupation of parts of China in the 1930s and 1940s remains a rather delicate topic.