Queen Calls British Ties With China Closest Ever

Queen Elizabeth II, the first reigning British monarch to visit China, described it today “as far better than 10,000 words can tell,” and said China’s and Britain’s ties are the closest ever.

Speaking in a toast at a state banquet in her honor at the Great Hall of the People, the queen also announced the Royal Society’s establishment of research fellowships for top Chinese scientists to work with British scientists.

“Some 390 years ago my forebear, Queen Elizabeth I, wrote to the Wan Li emperor expressing the hope that trade might be developed between England and China,” said the 60-year-old monarch, who was wearing a pink gown and tiara.

“The messenger met with misfortune and that letter never arrived. Fortunately, postal services have improved. . . . Your message inviting us here arrived safely, and it has given me great pleasure to accept it.”

Relations between China and Britain have moved close, partly as a result of their 1984 agreement on the turnover of the British colony of Hong Kong to China after the British lease on it runs out in 1997, she said.

The agreement has generated warm feelings in China toward Britain and set the stage for the queen’s historic visit.

The queen’s host, President Li Xiannian, said the Hong Kong agreement had ushered in a new era of progress in Sino-British relations, adding that the queen’s visit would give “powerful impetus to the deepening of relations between the two countries.”

The queen, sitting between Li and Premier Zhao Ziyang, ended months of speculation when she chose to tackle the first course of the banquet with chopsticks.

After the Chinese hors d’oeuvres, guests were served chicken soup with jasmine blossom, a seafood dish called “Buddha jumps the wall,” steamed beef and duck cubes, vegetarian items, steamed mandarin fish, tea, pastries, fruit and mousse.

The banquet was the climax of a packed day that began with a welcoming ceremony in Tian An Men Square, within sight of the late Chairman Mao Tse-tung’s portrait, which hangs over the entrance to the Forbidden City.