Beijing // Ties between China and Britain will not be harmed after Queen Elizabeth was caught on camera saying Chinese officials were "very rude", said an influential Chinese newspaper on Thursday.
Instead, the Global Times newspaper, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, laid the blame on western media "barbarians".
In a rare diplomatic gaffe, the British monarch was caught on camera at a Buckingham Palace garden party making unguarded comments about a state visit last year by president Xi Jinping that drummed up billions in Chinese investment.
The remarks made headlines worldwide on Wednesday but initially they were largely censored in China, blacked out of BBC World transmissions, according to the British broadcaster.
The Global Times said it was inconceivable that British officials had intentionally leaked the video because such a move would be "truly boorish and rude".
Ties would not be affected by the queen's remarks, the newspaper said in a Chinese-language commentary which also criticised the western media that reported the incident.
"The disrespectful gossipers in the media there, narcissistic and baring their fangs, seemingly retain vestiges of the inelegance of barbarians," the paper said.
"We believe, however, that with constant contact with the 5,000-year-old civilisation of the East [China] they will make progress," it said. London and Beijing have both proclaimed a new "golden era" of relations between the former imperial power - whose forces repeatedly invaded China in the 19th century - and the rising Asian giant, now the world's second-largest economy.
Mr Xi's trip in October saw a clutch of contracts announced, which British prime minister David Cameron said were worth almost $58 billion (Dh213bn).
At the time the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official mouthpiece, portrayed the visit as the start of a beautiful friendship.
But in her recorded comments the Queen commiserated with a police commander for her "bad luck" in having to oversee security for Mr Xi and his wife.
Members of the Chinese delegation "were very rude to the ambassador", the monarch said, exclaiming: "Extraordinary!"
A columnist at the Chinese website "Today's Headlines" recalled visible mutual discomfort during the three-day visit, describing it as "thought-provoking awkwardness" and adding it "primarily arose out of cultural and political differences".
On Chinese social media posters decried Britain's lack of awareness and understanding of Chinese ways, noting "an arrogance which makes them feel they needn't bother to learn".
"Every country's customs are different, OK - not all people must cater to you," wrote a commenter on Sina Weibo, a Chinese site similar to Twitter.
Others were ashamed.
"We're already embarrassed by talk about what our average people get up to abroad," said one. "Being embarrassed by our officials abroad is even worse."
The British monarch never expresses overtly political views in public and is known for her discretion, never granting an interview in her 64-year reign.
But her comments came as Mr Cameron was recorded calling Nigeria and Afghanistan "possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world", heaping scrutiny on the private conversations of British leadership.
"Even among western countries, Britain is most frequently 'caught with its pants down' and 'exposing itself'," the Global Times editorial said.
The paper shrugged off the queen's comments themselves as "not a big deal", stating: "Chinese diplomats surely also scoff at British bureaucrats in private."
* Reuters and Agence France-Presse
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