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Boris Johnson’s ‘beautiful communist bicycles’
Monday 14th October 2013 | Joss
On a recent trip to Beijing Boris Johnson was swarmed by Chinese students with camera phones. Was it his celebrity status? Perhaps his awesome hairdo? I think not. Alas, it was not old Boris they had gathered to see but his bike. His Boris bike.
Attempting something of a joke, Boris remarked that Chinese students were attracted to London because of the weather, ‘beautiful communist bicycles’ and French restaurants. Good one, Boris.
Sadly, I don't think that Chinese students come to London for the communist bikes. In fact, I don't think I’ve ever seen a Chinese student on a bike, let alone a Boris bike. I recall reading an article about Chinese students travelling to the UK to study history, not for pleasure or passion but on a patriotic mission. By studying the history of the British Empire and analysing what worked and what didn’t, they could return to China with a model for imperial success.
Something tells me that they could teach Boris something about communism and not the other way around.
Boris did, however, explain that London was an attractive place to study due to its ‘polychromatic’ diversity, which is a fancy way of saying multi-coloured. I think he was going for ‘multicultural’ or ‘culturally diverse’ or at least should have been. How would he refer to these Chinese students in isolation? As the yellow slice of a technicolour pie?
As the mayor of such a polycultural city, Boris needs to watch where he steps… or cycles. Just stick to jokes about the weather and the French, Boris – it’s what the white, I mean English, are good at.
Joss Wyatt
