Embarrassing Fernandez fails to mind her Rs and Ls during visit to China

It was meant to be a state visit to raise badly needed investment. But the trip by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to China has created a furore after she joked about her hosts' accents on Twitter.

Just hours after meeting President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Fernandez tried to mimic a Chinese accent by switching "Rs" with "Ls" in a tweet in Spanish that translates as: "Did they only come for lice and petloleum."

A few minutes later, she added: "Sorry, the levels of ridiculousness and absurdity are so high they can only be digested with humour."

Chinese diplomats yesterday declined to respond to the comments by Fernandez, a prolific tweeter who has 3.53 million followers. State media also diplomatically avoided the subject, instead highlighting a picture of Xi and Fernandez shaking hands.

But that didn't stop the internet in the South American country and beyond from exploding with criticism of what many considered a racist tweet.

"Cristina Fernandez's lack of tact and respect is incredible," wrote Twitter-user FaundezLafarga. "She goes to China looking for [economic] agreements and she makes fun of their accents." GuyChazan wrote: "Faux pas in China. Really, this sort of joke went out of fashion in the 70s."