Cleverly’s humiliating China visit was the perfect symbol of isolated, ill-led ‘global Britain’ | Simon Tisdall

The foreign minister set off with the aim of both standing up for our values' and securing profitable trade. He failed at both

Like a proselytising lay minister naively intent on calming troubled waters, foreign secretary James Cleverly flew into Beijing this week on a whinge and a prayer. The whinge comprised a long list of British grievances, ranging from China's attitude to Ukraine and Hong Kong to its spying on UK officials and sanctions on MPs.

Cleverly's prayer was that his hosts would not realise that, when it comes to pursuing a coherent China policy based on deliberate, principled choices backed by political will and economic muscle, rudderless Britain is all at sea - but that Chinese leaders would kindly take notice of what he had to say anyway.

Simon Tisdall is a foreign affairs commentator. He has been a foreign leader writer, foreign editor and US editor for the Guardian