Jeremy Hunt has been buying flowers for his wife, having described her as Japanese rather than Chinese on his first overseas trip as foreign secretary. But his homecoming is only the second most important wifely meeting this week. In Beijing he met the spouses of rights lawyers Wang Quanzhang, Li Heping and Yu Wensheng, who are or have been detained, as well as a released lawyer. This attracted less attention than his slip of the tongue, but is one of the strongest expressions of human rights concerns made by a senior British government figure in China in recent years.

It follows unusually direct Foreign Office criticism of Hong Kong’s attempt to ban the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party on the grounds that it poses a risk to national security. The move is unprecedented as the first attempt to outlaw a political organisation since the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997 – police are relying on laws designed to tackle Triads – but is merely the latest step in the steady tightening of the political grip in the region. Even those with little sympathy for the party fear this paves the way for a much broader crackdown on political expression.

In his press conference with China’s foreign minister, Mr Hunt was more muted. The fact he was en route to Paris and Vienna only highlighted his quest for post-Brexit trade deals, one of the subjects discussed in China. He said they had had “very open and frank” discussions about the situation in Hong Kong and people’s concerns but, when pressed, said only that the UK was “very committed to the ‘one country, two systems’ approach”. He should have taken the opportunity to make the clear statement merited by Britain’s unique obligation as the other signatory of the joint declaration guaranteeing Hong Kong’s rights and way of life until 2047.