Chinese president Xi Jinping’s four-day state visit to the United Kingdom was met with great pomp and ceremony by his British hosts, which included a royal banquet and having a 41 – gun salute in his honour. By referencing the illustrious history of the UK, Xi is clearly making a statement about how he wants China’s future to be like.

With the state flags of the United Kingdom and China lining the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, one could be forgiven for thinking that central London was, for a moment, a street scene outside Tiananmen. By blending the best of traditional pageantry and modern British hospitality, the Cameron administration spared no effort to make President Xi Jinping feel almost at home.

Xi’s visit to the UK, less than a month after his visit to Washington to meet with President Obama, comes at a particularly challenging time for China’s foreign relations, given the recent Chinese economic slowdown as well as increased tensions with its neighbours, especially countries with which it has territorial disputes.

… Benjamin Ho is a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics, and previously Associate Research Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.