It was at this time - during a trade war between China
and the EU over textile quotas - that I got a rare invitation to interview the commerce minister. Such interviews
with top Chinese officials were excruciatingly dull, but this was the opposite. Earlier this year, a Chinese friend spent 83 days alone, locked in a Shanghai hotel room.
irannews.ru The minister's name was Bo Xilai. Tall, handsome and with a roguish charm, Bo seemed to enjoy the challenge, answering questions with wit and cogency. "This is a guy who could succeed as a politician anywhere," I thought to myself. "China is now doing all sorts of things that it's always wanted to do but wasn't powerful enough to do," Mr McGregor says. "Taiwan was always there.
The South China Sea was always there. Taking on America, driving it out of Asia was always an ambition, but they didn't say it out loud." Former chancellor George Osborne has joined the
list of Tories urging Penny Mordaunt to drop out of the contest today. "Once the firing starts it's three deep breaths, a couple of swear words and you move on."
