The future presence of a senior Anti-UK Republican and a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party known for brutal crackdowns at the coronation of King Charles III has provoked anger from numerous sources.
Both the Northern Ireland leader of Sinn Féin, Michelle O’Neill, as well as Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng are to attend the coronation, prompting outcry from pundits and politicians who have expressed anger that they will be present at the event.
An event of historical significance in the UK, there has already been infighting within the royal family, with self-exiled Prince Harry in open conflict with both his father, the King, as well as his older brother and heir to the throne, Prince William.
According to a report by The Telegraph, announcements that both of the officials have stirred significant controversy, with the UK Foreign Office’s confirmation that China will likely send VP Han to attend the event, in particular, prompting outrage from some MPs.
This is due to the fact that Han was at the centre of the Communist Party crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, demonstrations the Vice-President described as being “violent and destructive acts” that his government would not tolerate.
“This is the man responsible for trashing the international treaty – the Sino-British accord – in the course of which the Hong Kong authorities have persecuted peaceful democracy campaigners,” former Tory Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said regarding Han.
“Having this man here given his role is outrageous,” he went on to say, adding that the move likely meant that Chinese President Xi Jinping sees the UK as being “weak”.
Another MP, Tim Loughton, meanwhile described Han’s presence as being “an insult to the freedom-loving people” of Hong Kong, who have dealt with significant CCP crackdowns on their way of life over the last number of years.
Han is not the only controversial guest set to attend the coronation, with Michelle O’Neill — the leader of the UK separatist Sinn Féin party in the North of Ireland — also set to attend the event.
A party that backs the UK-controlled region of Northern Ireland leaving the union and joining the rest of Ireland as an independent nation-state, Sinn Féin is now the single largest party in the disputed region for the first time in its history.
This in turn has prompted talks of a United Ireland, which would, by definition, involve the break-up of the United Kingdom as it exists today.
However, it has actually been the anti-UK faction in Ireland that has been angered most by O’Neill’s announcement that she will attend the ceremony, with numerous Irish Republicans as a betrayal of the movement.
“What happened to Neither King nor Kaiser (sic),” Peadar Toibín TD, the leader of the pro-life Aontú party, wrote on Twitter, referencing an old Irish Republican saying during the first world war: “We serve neither king nor kaiser, but Ireland.”
“Michelle O’Neill is wrong to attend the Coronation,” he continued. “She will be attending as a subject of a British king that claims sovereignty over part of Ireland.”
Unionists have also expressed some annoyance at O’Neill’s attendance, arguing that local councils controlled by Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland have blocked local coronation day celebrations from happening due to their dislike of the UK.
Others have questioned the appropriateness of inviting a politician with links to the Provisional IRA considering that the daughter of Lord Albert Mountbatten, a mentor of King Charles III who was killed by the Republican terror group, was not invited to attend the ceremony.