In the autumn of 2015, on a mission to Beijing that would pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s triumphal state visit to Britain that October, George Osborne employed a phrase that has come to haunt Sino-British relations. Looking to the future, the then chancellor hailed what he predicted would be a “golden decade”.
It was a time when Britain basked in Beijing’s favour. Six months previously, and despite strong US misgivings, the UK had become the first G7 member to sign up to China’s new competitor to the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
