A first date with China – but who will end up paying the bill?

Britain and China are making all the right noises. But as Rupert Foster explains, they're setting themselves up for disappointment.

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There's a mismatch of expectation between Britain and China

I recently discovered First Dates, a TV programme where two carefully chosen, like-minded individuals are sent to a restaurant to see if they hit it off. It is a step up from most reality TV, because the producers understand that a near-miss is more interesting than a car crash waiting to happen.

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Dr Peter Frankopan is director of the Centre for Byzantine Research at Oxford University, and author of The First Crusade: The Call from the East, published by Bodley Head (£6.99).