CableLeaks from Washington and Beijing

17.07.2019 - EB

Three days after the leak of critical cables about the Trump administration to the Mail on Sunday, U.K. Amb. Kim Darroch submitted his resignation. Donald Trump had said that his administration would no longer deal with the "pompous fool." Diplomats in Washington were perplexed, because Darroch had not written anything new. Compare this to a diplomatic cable leaked to Respekt three days ago. It was sent to Prague at the end of June by new Czech Amb. to China Vladimír Tomšík and states, according to Respekt, that the government of the People's Republic is using every opportunity to "harass, intimidate and punish" the CR because of activity by Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib in favor of Tibet and Taiwan. This is indeed highly newsworthy, even if the Czech media have hardly noticed it. The current Chinese administration has essentially stopped dealing with Tomšík, according to his own cable. Which no doubt brings great joy to the anonymous leaker of the text.

Glossary of difficult words

cable - a confidential text message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, such as an embassy or consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country;

pompous - self-important;

perplexed - very puzzled; completely baffled.



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