My Take | It’s not the time for barbs, point-scoring and wolf warring

Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral will take place on Monday with much pomp and ceremony. It should be a dignified occasion that transcends the geopolitical tensions troubling the world.

The historic event, at London’s Westminster Abbey, will provide an opportunity for hundreds of heads of state and other officials to pay their respects to the British monarch, who reigned for 70 years. But it should also give them time to reflect on the past and ponder how to shape a better future.

Sadly, the period of mourning for the queen, who died this month aged 96, has not passed without a little Sino-British controversy.

Reports emerged on Friday that a Chinese delegation had been refused permission to pay their respects to the queen as she lies in state in parliament’s Westminster Hall.

The ban on the delegation joining the 400,000 people expected to file past the queen’s coffin was imposed by the speaker of the House of Commons in response to Beijing’s sanctioning of seven British lawmakers last year. China’s ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, was also banned from entering parliament in September, 2021, on the same grounds.