Fewer than five civil servants working in the Foreign Office have been taught to speak Cantonese by the department since 2017 despite the ongoing crisis in Hong Kong.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which was led by Liz Truss until last month, has been accused of risking its ability to “confront the challenge of the Chinese Communist Party regime”, according to one Hong Kong observer, by training so few to speak the language. Figures obtained by the New Statesman show that no employee has been taught to speak Cantonese to a C2 level, which is the highest level of proficiency.
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