Comments on: The Maltese line-up at the negotiating table in China https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/ Daphne Caruana Galizia is a journalist working in Malta. Mon, 14 Jul 2014 21:31:19 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Tarzan https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2247189 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 21:31:19 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2247189 Why didn’t they take that other fossil, Reno Calleja, with them?

His vast knowledge on anything Chinese would have been indispensable to our delegation. He could have, for example, got the best possible deals for lodging and dining, saving us a pretty penny.

]]> By: ciccio https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2246553 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 16:35:02 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2246553 In reply to alf.

He is at the far end of the table, opening a packet of cookies.

]]> By: curious https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2246515 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 16:13:30 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2246515 In reply to alf.

What worries me is the absolute silence of Keith tal-Kasco. Always present but never to be heard.

They’re a team. Kurt Farrugia cannot be seen and Keith Schembri can never be heard.

]]> By: alf https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2246482 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 15:53:50 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2246482 I understand that Kurt Farrugia was also there. He was shown being introduced by Muscat. Where is he?

]]> By: Mike https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2246084 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:27:41 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2246084 In reply to M..

Oh no. I had missed that announcement. Are the respective unions of the various healthcare professional not going to make a statement? (How surprising.)

I’m assuming that this clinic is going to be peddling remedies that do not hold up to scientific scrutiny, funded by Maltese taxes.

Ridiculous, when money could be spent on actual therapies with a foundation in evidence based medicine or even to pay for a few more nurses and doctors, who are chronically understaffed and underpaid.

]]> By: Carmel Said https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2246081 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:27:25 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2246081 In reply to Carmel Said.

Thanks :-)

]]> By: M. https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2245568 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 08:15:56 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2245568 Deo Debattista s a doctor. Labour had already announced that they will be introducing a Chinese health clinic or something at Mater Dei Hospital, so perhaps Debattista has already been earmarked to run it.

]]> By: Carmel Said https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2244705 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:41:16 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2244705 Stupid question maybe, but what’s the difference between an ambassador and a consul? Thanks.

[Daphne – http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Ambassadors+and+Consuls A consul is not a member of the diplomatic/foreign service and need not even be a citizen of the country he or she represents. Consuls are generally people who live permanently in the country where they are a consul. This is generally an honorary post. Ambassadors should never be people who live permanently in the country where they are an ambassador and which is their naturalised home, because they have an inbuilt conflict of interest and also because the receiving country cannot, should there be the need to do so, expel them as it is their home. This government has appointed at least two such ambassadors: our high commissioner in Australia has lived there all his life and is also an Australian citizen with business interests in Australia; and then there is Clifford Borg-Marks who has lived in China for decades, has a family there, and extensive business interests. It is his home. He should be a consul not an ambassador.]

]]> By: Peppa Pig https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2244668 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:21:11 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2244668 What on earth was Deo Debattista doing there? His savoir- faire where Chinese affairs are concerned do not go further then giobbling up a plate of Peking Duck with pancakes and a few balls of sweet and sour pork.

]]> By: Edward https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/07/the-maltese-line-up-at-the-negotiating-table-in-china/#comment-2244662 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:19:07 +0000 http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/?p=49879#comment-2244662 I love how the Chinese talk about a special relationship with Malta. Yes, special when it was a full blown communist dictatorship and Malta had Mintoff, and the Maltese were being bullied by the government, to put it mildly.

My, what a special relationship.

I guess that’s what makes all of this stink, makes so many people uncomfortable and why Muscat never mentioned a word about this during the election campaign two years ago.

He knew that such an agreement was going to remind people of Mintoff, and basically prove the PN right: that it would be back to those days.

In fact, everything Muscat has done reminds everyone of the 70s and 80s, so again the PN would have had more proof that voting Labour would be a big mistake.

The dumbest thing is, people are perfectly alright with having this information kept from them before an election, only to find out about it all later. How strange.

]]>