China Embarrasses King Charles at His Coronation

King Charles III will be coronated on Saturday, and you’ll never guess who China is sending for the occasion: Vice President Han Zheng, the former head of Beijing’s Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs. He’s the Communist Party man who led China’s repudiation of its treaty with the United Kingdom over its former colony.

As Prince, Charles attended the 1997 ceremony when the British handed Hong Kong over to China as part of their Sino-British Joint Declaration. Reading a message from Queen Elizabeth, the Prince said Britain was “proud of the rights and freedoms which Hong Kong people enjoy.” Beijing promised to keep those liberties intact for 50 years under the Joint Declaration.