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The Monocle Daily
Germany’s chancellor Merz pushes for more co-operation with China during Beijing visit
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You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first broadcast on 25th February, 2026 on Monocle Radio.
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Germany's chancellor joins the queue of Western leaders cluttering the schedule of China's president. Would a US Strike on Iran risk a wider regional war? And at whose expense? And should tourists pick up more of the tab for a city's public transport? I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts. Foreign. Welcome to the Monocle Daily. Coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. My guests Julie Norman and Alexander Gerlach will discuss the day's big stories. And our on this day historical series will recall a deeply weird episode in the annals of gunboat diplomacy. Stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle Daily. The Monocle Daily. I'm Andrew Muller and I am joined today by Julie Norman, lecturer in politics and international relations at ucl, and by Alexander Gerlach, professor of political philosophy and geopolitics at New York University. Hello to you both. Hello. Hello, Julie. First of all, you have recently returned from book tour in the United States. And as every author well knows, probably the only thing worse than going on a book tour is not being asked to go on a book tour. How did in fact go? And do feel free, of course, to seamlessly work in the title of the book into your assessment?
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Absolutely. So as listeners may remember, my new book, the Dream and the Nightmare is currently out and I was delighted to give some talks in Boston and Washington, D.C. as well as here in Belfast and Edinburgh. And yeah, overall they went well. I mean, Andrew, your article on book tours is like one of my classic favorites and I read it anytime I'm asked to do one. And there were definitely varying degrees of turnout, but overall it was pretty great. And the stage performance, the stage adaptation of the book is being performed next Sunday, March 8, at palace, if anyone's interested in the theater side of this.
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Did you have a notably dismal turnout anywhere? Because nobody wants to hear about the book events that were a massive success with a long queue for signatures. Did you have to do the one? Because Lord knows I have. Where literally the only people in attendance were people you rather suspected had come in to get out of the rain.
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Yeah, I seem to remember years had an ex girlfriend's parents and her dog or something like that in attendance.
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Literally the entire audience not making it up, wasn't it?
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Yeah, no, it was better than that. But there was one that I would say I could count on Both hand. There was none that count on one hand, but there was one that I count on both hands, but that was probably the lowest turnout, so.
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And not too many people who started off by saying, this is not so much a question as a statement.
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Oh, we always get those. Yes, there's a cane always at the side of the stage, so don't worry about that.
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Alexander, you have recently been visiting San Marino. How is that as a place to visit for an actual professor of geopolitics? Because to remind our listeners, San Marino is literally a hilltop somewhere in Italy which nevertheless has a seat on the United Nations.
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Well, that is, you know, in part or like basically a result of the geopolitics of the 19th century in Italy when Garibaldi unified the country. Belated nation, as they call Italy and Germany. And the king of San Marino at the time seems to have lent a helping hand and as a gesture in return, he got to keep his kingdom. And yeah, it's today on a hilltop.
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I mean, to be clear, I do not wish to sound as if I am belittling San Marino. I've been there, it's delightful, but it's just really strange. I don't know if you had similar conversations, but I did ask people what it's like traveling with a samir and a passport. And they said on the one hand, yeah, it's kind of cool cause there's only about 20,000 of them. On the other hand, really annoying because you just keep getting asked by customs people, where is that? Is that even a country? I've never heard of it. I did speak to one person, an older resident, who said, honestly, he said he's so grateful for Google because like trying to travel in the 60s and 70s with a San Marino passport.
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C
I mean, you have these peculiarities. Let's say on the continent, Liechtenstein be another one. You have Monaco, that's another one. So you have like very tiny. Actually also, the Vatican State is a relic of that time too. So we have like these tiny islands of peculiarity. And just when you visit them, they somehow kept their own tradition. However, like San Marino today is a proud republic. So no more kings.
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Well, first to Beijing, which is an extremely terse summary of the itinerary of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is the latest Western leader to have wondered if an improved trading relationship, China with China rather, might, among other beneficial effects, insulate his nation against the tariffs and or tantrums of the US President. China is Germany's biggest trade partner, but if the street is two way, it is dual Carriage in one direction, unsealed thoroughfare in the other. One thing the Chancellor wishes to address is the fact that Germany buys from China nearly twice what it sells to China and that the gap is widening. Merz will also likely have a word about China's continuing propping up of Russia as President Vladimir Putin's 72 hour lightning conquest of Ukraine begins its fifth year. Alexander first of all, is there a way you can explain to listeners who, much like this presenter, might be a bit baffled by trade relations, why is that imbalance bad?
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C
Well, I mean, it's so what creates this imbalance is at least in a large part an overproduction by China. And that is not only posing a problem to Germany, but also to other countries. So that is like on the side and the other side is that the axis of the German economy or the players and the product seems to be for decades now being like uneven and uneven playing field. So that creates the trade balance we now have. And MATS is not the first one addressing it. So it really remains to be seen which is one of the most horrible sentences in the commentary. But it really, I'm very doubtful, let's say that something new will come. And you see, like when Keir Starmer went to Beijing and others went to Beijing, the geopolitical moment is like you cannot get any favors in return from China. China gains ground just by the sheer action or inaction of the United States government and therefore they do not have to concede anything to anyone who is coming along and ask for a deepening of trade relations.
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Julie obviously Germany, not a small or insignificant or powerless nation, but does it actually have any leverage when it comes up against the leviathan that is the People's Republic?
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I would say it's limited right now and obviously partly because of the US's obviously changing the game too right now with trade and having the high protectionism and you know, for Germany now as it is for the UK and much of Europe, a lot of people don't like China's human rights policies. They don't like the way that China's doing business with these issues of currency devaluation of subsidies. But there's this sense of, you know, you can't live without them. And so there's this sense that you need to find a way to do business there and you can go with kind of a portfolio of ass, but at the end of the day, you know that your economy is going to be somewhat dependent on those goods coming, especially with, as you noted, Andrew, this 2 to 1 trade deficit is something they're going to want to chip away at. But at the same time, it's clear they can't just not be importing China's goods. You can't have that decoupling kind of model really as an option right now.
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ALEXANDER There was a common or conventional wisdom about recent visits to Beijing by Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer UK Prime Minister, that they were both trying to hedge against America's volatility. Do you think there is an element of that in Mertz deciding to go as well?
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C
Well, the German Chancellor for the last two decades and even longer have been like constant guests in Beijing. So I feel that's like not only or necessarily exclusively driven by this geopolitical moment, but we see like a tectonic shift. You have been also recently at the Munich Security Conference. So there is, let's say the popularity of China is grow in Africa and the European one and the American one declining. Why is that? Because this tectonic shift also Gaza is a very important example, the engagement of Western nations in or not on behalf of Gaza. So this is kind of like creating a new situation in which Germany Matz is of the same structure as Merkel in the sense that he believes in rationality and the rationality sort of paradigm, you will not do anything against your interest sort of philosophy which was applied to Putin for the longest time has not panned out. So I think Merz and his cabinet, they learned to understand that geopolitics is realpolitik. It cannot be value based, even though we want this at some point as Western leaders or the Western leaders wanted that. But then also what's the success? Did we have more success with Beijing and does China have a better human rights accord after Merkel's and others admonitions every year? So no. So I think this is like what's happening now, the adjustment to find a place. Where will Germany be in a world where America. America has forsaken this global leadership sort of moment where you at the same time cannot allow China to fill that spot.
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It is widely assumed, Julie, that Friedrich Merz will raise the matter of Russia and Ukraine with China again. What line can Western countries usefully take at this point? I mean, China's obviously fairly invested in Russia, but after four years, I mean, does the line come on? You might have backed a bit of a loser here, actually. Actually carry any weight.
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Yeah, I mean, I think that horse has bolted a little bit in terms of being able to pull that back or in terms of Europe really being able to change that for China, I mean, it's working out. Speaking of states working out for their own interests, I mean, this has always been an interest based thing for China. They haven't been looking to get militarily involved in that conflict. They don't want to get sucked into a quagmire. But if it's working out for them economically, they will, you know, take advantage of what's happening. And so their position is not one that I think would be swayed by an actor like Germany coming in and kind of wagging a finger.
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And just finally on this, Alexander, is it clear what China's interest in backing Russia is? Because there has always been this conventional wisdom that what China prizes most at home and abroad is stability. And obviously there's nothing less stable than a large scale war. But there is also the theory, which I guess is the more cynical view, that China is honestly not all that upset by the spectacle of Russia's military getting smashed up on a frontier a long way away from.
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C
Yeah. And I think like, for the answer to this question, we have to just, you know, beam ourselves into China and see it from the Chinese geographical position. There is no way that the Chinese government cannot take into account whatever's going to happen in Russia. It's their biggest neighbor. They have obviously historical ties. There's obviously like the whole history of the 20th century with communism, Stalinism and Maoism. So there is like Beijing will not just ignore it. That's what I want to say. So it's like it's paramount they have opposition to it. So it's either are they with us or against us. And I think for Xi Jinping, the anti Western, anti democratic, anti liberal agenda that Putin has, that's something he relates to on an ideological level. So I think he sees him indeed as a partner, but a junior partner. And I think that's something that the Kremlin has still liked to grapple with. But I think that's kind of the situation from China. So China wants be unified in the sense with Russia against the West. And it has also been helped by South Korea and Iran. And I think that gives you a sense of this axis or like the, the forces we are up against.
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Well, to the Middle east and to the possible ramifications of US President Donald Trump issuing a go order to the formidable armada the US has assembled off Iran in recent weeks. One possible factor in his deliberations is the prospect of igniting a wider regional conflict, possibly hoping to raise such stakes to a daunting level. Lebanon's foreign Minister Youssef Raghi has claimed to be in receipt of information to the effect that should Iran's Lebanese proxy Hezbollah respond by taking poke at Israel. Among the targets of Israel's response might be Beirut's Rafik Hariri international airport. Julie, why has the Lebanese foreign minister piped up here? Is he trying to signal something like perhaps whatever this is, please leave us out of it?
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Pretty much. And he's pretty much said that flat out like this does not concern us, like nothing to see here. We are not party to this. And you know, part of this is, you know, I think a caution to obviously to his own citizens with what is a very real threat of internal strike from Israel if this war does ramp up but also a warning to Hezbollah. I mean remember the Lebanese government has been in efforts for the last year to try and disarm Hezbollah, have them be much less of a kind of potent force than they've been in the past with varying degrees of success. And so this is a warning shot to them too saying or perhaps bad choice of phrase, but a warning to Hezbollah to saying don't pull us into this. The country cannot bear this and they are going tothey are going to get pulled in if this escalates.
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Alexandra is much trouble Hezbollah is in a position to cause even if they wanted to. Obviously the last couple of years have not been good for them. They suffered thousands of casualties to Mossad's rather ingenious explosion pages luck long serving Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is dead. Thousands of their fighters have been killed in combat with the IDF in the last couple of years and they did notably sit out the 12 day war of last June. Not a squeak was heard from them. Are they really still a factor?
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C
Well I honestly cannot say like in what kind of numbers and effectiveness they could be still posing a threat to Israel. I think it's also like part of the Israeli sort of like rhetoric and like just making themselves heard to say it that way. And there have been, even after the peace deal there have been incursions into other territories also the Lebanon. So I think Israel is signaling that it's ready to take on everybody that might get involved in this. The quagmire, which is an interesting word for that and it just only is a testament to what is said all the time you talk about a possible or potential escalation in the region that you do not know how it's going to pan out because there are so many actors whose strength or non strength or position you cannot really assess and the United States have been, I feel like, brought another unknown to these equations by also not making clear exactly what they want. There's like, one week they say we want regime change and we support the protests, and the next week you want to, like, have a negotiation with exactly that government that you pledged a week before to help overthrow. So it's literally, like, not clear what the United States want either.
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Lebanon's foreign minister, again, Youssef Raghi. Julie, may also have been trying to draw attention to the fact that Israeli operations in Lebanon are very much ongoing. This has never really ended. At least 12 people in Lebanon were killed in Israeli strikes last Friday, for example. Is it clear what Israel is trying to accomplish there? Does this have an end in sight? Or like many Israeli operations in recent years, is this, has this now reached the we're here because we're here, because we're here phase?
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Yeah. So I would say in the short term, from Israel's assessments, if there are strikes in Iran and retaliation, Hezbollah, from their assessment, would be likely to join in that and be the closest actor to target Israel. And so in the weeks leading up to Trump's potential decision, Israel has been trying to, you know, quell that threat as much as possible. But again, comes on the backdrop of a year of continued strikes on alleged Hezbollah reorganizing. And of course, on the fall of 2024, when Israel was very much engaged in direct confrontation with Hezbollah, it did take out much of their capabilities. But there has been a year's worth of, you know, at least attempted rebuilding, at least in some capacities. There are reports that some Iranian officials from the Revolutionary Guard have been going to Lebanon to help Hezbollah Rebu. But again, it is minimal. But it's enough to still be annoying in terms of kind of cross border, you know, cross border rockets, cross border raids. But it's minimal compared to what their old capacity used to be.
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And just finally on this, Alexander, it would be remiss of us to move off this subject without a bit of wild speculation. We still don't know what the United States intends vis a vis Iran. We do know that the build up is serious and very much designed to look as if it's serious. Is there something Iran could do at this point to avoid any unpleasantness? Basically? Is there a bone Iran could throw the United States that would persuade Trump to stand down at this point?
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C
Well, I feel like there's always the bone of going back to the negotiation table. And that bone has been thrown so often, so that I think it's also at liberty of the Trump administration to not believe that for. So I don't really know what to expect. I feel like what's really the saddest part about it is that it's not about the Iranians, that it's not about like supporting the protests. It's not about supporting regime change in the favor of the Iranian people who have been on the streets.
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Yeah, I mean, and negotiations are continuing this week, continuing tomorrow in Geneva. And to me, the only possible possible off ramp, which I think is pretty small at this point, would almost be a return to the old JCPOA model where Iran agrees to, to just cap at a very, very low amount. That's only for nuclear power and these kinds of things. And that's ironically the agreement that listeners probably know Trump pulled the US out of. And yet it seems to be the only kind of model that could plausibly be a safe phasing measure for both right now. But I'm not sure if we're going to get there.
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Well, to Kyoto now, where there is marginally annoying news for imminent visitors who had planned to get around by bus. Kyoto's mayor Koji Matsui is floating a plan for a two tier bus fare system under which the standard SL will be reduced from 230 yen to 200 yen for locals to be offset by stinging tourists. For the difference. The idea is to more evenly distribute the benefits of Kyoto's annual tourist deluge. More than 50 million people annually descending on a city of about one and a half million. Mayor Matsui is also acknowledging the vexation of voters with this influx. By one 2024 survey, 80% of Kyotens reported irritation with the congestion of public transport and the poor manners of inc. Alexander, where are you on this? Are they gratuitously rinsing their tourists or is this basically fair enough?
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C
Well, I have been to Kyoto a few times and before the pandemic and after. And it seems like after the pandemic when people had savings and also like interest to go places like Japan was like overrun. So that is kind of like a backlash that we have seen in other places like Nepal, Bhutan or Mallorca, Barcelona, where you have places where like throw over tourism measures need to be in place. And I actually have to say I am. And like if we talk about the manners of European or Western or whatever tourists in Japan, you have to take into account that this, even the tidiest of us will be meeting like new standards when they come to Japan. There are people vacuum cleaning the pavement. So I mean Even the tidiest of us will be like leaving dirt and whatever and irritation behind. So an extra layer of care is advised when you visit Japan. So I feel like that's not just only the money, like people in Kyoto especially complain. And you also said this, that is literally a huge factor in Japan, that people do not feel respected in the heritage, people just coming over, taking photos without asking and all these kind of things. So if you thin out the amount of tourists in certain places, I feel like governments have the responsibility and certainly also the power to do so.
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B
The thing is, though, Julie, it strikes me that paying a few extra cents for a bus fare is not actually going to deter anybody from visiting Kyoto. But there is that thing whereby a small, barely noticeable tax at scale can presumably make a big difference. I have, as I may have mentioned once or twice this week, just returned from Milan, which does add a few euros to every night you stay in a hotel in Milan. And this is, you know, revenue for the city. And again, I think the reasoning there is understandable enough that somebody who's already spent whatever it takes to spend time in Milan is not going to change their mind because it's three extra euros a night for their hotel room.
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A
Yeah, I mean, I don't think this is uncommon. And you can even think of it as, you know, sort of a discount for. For taxpayers who already paying into certain kinds of systems. Like, you know, here in Camden, if I go to a museum, I get a discount because I live in the borough, as opposed to kind of paying the full price. So I think there's often those kinds of things, I guess. A couple questions. One, I don't know, like, logistically how this would work with the fair, like, would you have two separate, like, machines and like, I don't know, like, I'm not sure how they would actually do it, like, logistically.
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B
And I will say, I assume somebody in Kyoto City hall has given this some. I'm sure they don't want people turning up in an array of potentially extremely dubious disguises.
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A
God, that would be wonderful. But the other thing, I think I'm intrigued by the bad manners incentive here too. I wonder if there's a way to just tax the bad man or people and that I would totally get behind even here in London. Just put it on people.
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Yeah. But I'm in favor of applying that to everybody. That is a partial answer to the question I wanted to ask you both in closing on this item. If I put you in charge of tourism for whichever city you prefer yourself, are there Measures you would impose. Alexander, are there sort of punitive, any particular punitive taxes you would impose upon tourists?
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C
Well, I mean, that is a very broad question and I actually, I mean, I don't know, Honestly, I cannot really, you know, tell, you know, have this measure or that. You know, it's kind of like, I mean if you, if you are like familiar with the local customs, which I think you should like know shorts or you know, undershirts in churches in Italy for instance, or stuff you need to. Or like, you know, hats on in the synagogue, shoes off in the mosque. I think this is just always very helpful to be like a good and decent traveler.
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A
Oh, I have some tax ideas.
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B
Oh, I bet you do. Yeah. Yeah. See I duly would impose not so much taxes as monstrous fines upon those people who get to the tube platform off the end of the escalator, turn into the, you know, the tunnel that leads to the actual platform and then just stop.
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Oh yes, the staffers rather than actually
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just moving down the platform so everybody else can get through.
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The staffer's fined if not imprisoned. Yes, I would say we've talked about this before. The no headphone people.
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Yeah, but they should just, they should just be tasered though. Taxing isn't. Taxing them is not going to get the message across.
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Yeah, they're top of my list. Yeah, gum smackers are very high in my list. Also. Yes, Slow walker is not like for able bodied people especially like phone lookers while trying to walk on the crowded street. All of these people have very high pay taxes.
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C
And here also like, I mean Londoners would have to pay the hefty fines which is like walking in no straight lines or whatever. Coming from New York to London, it's a nightmare. People just, just walk everywhere and there's no real rules to it. So that would be like maybe something I would also be contemplating and taxing indeed.
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Well, I'm going to have to like stop you both. This could get very weird. Very quickly we will move on to more encouraging news of the never too late variety. Rose Wiley, the British artist is shortly to become the first female British painter to have a solo exhibition in the main galleries of the Royal Academy here in London. Rose Wylie was born five years before the outbreak of World War II and only rose to major promise in her 70s. And there is an absolutely outstanding article on related matters in the current issue of the magazine. Subscribers can also find it on monocle.com Julie, is there a thing, and I'm asking this because I realize that I'm possibly approaching that point myself reasonably soon. Past a certain point, we do tend to tune entirely productive and worthwhile people out. We stop assuming that anybody past the age of. Pick an age a long way from where I am has anything useful to contribute.
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A
Yeah, no, I think that's very natural. And so I love this story. I mean, a woman in her 90s getting a solo show at the Royal Academy, like, what is better? And you know, we're all safely far from these ages, but even my parents, like in their 70s now, like, you know, entering retirement, it's like, yeah, like go for it, like find some new hobby and like, who knows what might happen? And just, I think there's this sense that once people are retired from their like, profession or once they hit a certain age, they. There's like nothing new there. And yet, you know, we hear these wonderful stories about, about people finding these like, yeah, new talents or areas that they just haven't had a chance to explore before. I think it's awesome.
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B
See on, on that thought, Alexander, I, I do wonder if a certain, at a certain age, a kind of glorious absence of self consciousness bothers you anymore. You just think, well, what am I waiting for? And also, who cares? I'm going to go and become, I don't know, a painter or a, I don't know, skydiver, whale fisherman, like whatever you fancy yourself.
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C
I mean, I feel like we're both in teaching also and I think like the, the mantra of lifelong learning is just like, not just a mantra but also a truth. And also, we live so much longer than our ancestors and for parents that just look, we have two or three lives, especially if you in circles of what interests you and you know, the capabilities you have physically and then also with your wallet, like when you make a little more money. So literally usually there's much more going on than like just being 17, going to a craft school or whatever, than being like, in German we call it Auskeland, meaning I finished learning. Literally, that's what it means. And it's just like nonsensical. Right? Like even if you do crafts work, also these methods just get more refined and new machinery is around and whatever. So I feel like this is a great testament to like, we. And we also seem to be knowing that the human brain is way beyond what was perceived in the past, like capable of learning new languages and new skills. So if that all to be true in a time where we all get older, we should, yeah, we should, you know, find new hobbies at the age of 60, 70, and even 80.
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B
Just in closing, is there a an especially venerable artist, past or present, whose works you would like to recommend? I, I for example, Julie would like to draw the listeners attention to the recent run of records by the great Willie Nelson. I will, I, I will concede that the contest for best run of albums by an artist in their 90s is not a hotly contested field for obvious reasons. But genuinely his recent records have been. I mean they all sound Nelson records, but they all do sound like really good Willie Nelson records.
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A
Oh, I love that recommendation. Let's see. I would recommend listeners might not know Alma Thomas. She's a, she was an African American woman artist from Washington D.C. who I think was the first black woman to have her art shown in the White House. And she didn't really get her art going until later in life, but had these beautiful, abstract, colorful paintings that are just extraordinary. You can find them online. And she's from my hometown of D.C. so I'll plug for Alma Thomas and Alexander.
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B
Do you have a particular favorite artist, writer, whatever, with a bit of grey around the temples?
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C
Oh my God, this is such a difficult question. I would not, I could, I could literally not think of anything now like out of my head, which would be like specifically like fitting that description.
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B
Well, the memory's the first thing to go with our age.
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A
I'll say the 40 something year old like Olympic Paris figure skater who was like flying through the air at like 40 something. I was like, well done.
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B
I did see Luka modric playing for AC Milan last Wednesday at the age of like 40 or something.
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A
Yeah, Athletes Bizarre.
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B
Julie Norman and Alexander Gerlach. Thank you both for joining us. Finally on today's show, our on this Day historical series recalls a time when it was possible to coerce truculent nations with superior naval power and sort of have nobody really notice for a bit. A survey of the state flags of the United States of the sort which might be undertaken before attending a noteworthily demanding pub quiz, could prompt the conclusion that the American Revolution is yet to be entirely completed, although not before you have enjoyed the fact that on the reverse of the flag of Oregon is a cute picture of a beaver. Quite. But the US state flag, which might prompt musings that the uprising against British rule undertaken by the American colonies In the late 18th century remains a work in progress, is that of Hawaii. Unmistakable in the Hawaiian flag's upper left corner is Britain's Union Jack, which has been officially there since 1845 in part because of the peculiar events which commenced on this day in 1843, The key figure in said peculiar events is Lord George Paulett. And you can tell he's the key figure because peculiar events have become known to history as the Paulet Affair. Paulett was born into British aristocracy, one of eight children of the 13th Marquess of Winchester. He went to sea aged 14, saw service in various stramashes in Portugal, Spain and elsewhere and rose steadily through the ranks. By 1843, Pollitt was captain of HMS Carisfort, a 26 gun frigate attached to the British Pacific squadron based out of the Chilean port of Valparaiso. It is, as owners of globes will understand, a long way from Chile to Hawaii. Paulette and the crew of the Caris Fort were inveigled into undertaking this voyage by Richard Charlton, long serving, arguably far too long serving, British Consul to what was then the Kingdom of Hawaii. Charlton had arrived in the islands in 1825, just ahead of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Blonde, which bore the bodies of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu of Hawaii, both of whom had died of measles within a week of each other while visiting London the previous year. Charlton was by most accounts a terrific pain in the neck in the estimation of one historian.
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D
He was rough, obtuse, foul mouthed and choleric. He advocated temperance and drank to excess. He was a fornicator. He was chronically litigious. He menaced white men with pistols or had his bully boys beat them. He lassoed a Hawaiian and dragged them along the ground for a mile.
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B
There are some yards more where that came from. Charlton, not content with acting like he owned the place, increasingly wished to actually own the place. Desires which had entanglement him in several disputes over property. In late 1842, Charlton set sail for London with a view to pitching his case to the Foreign Office. Directly en route, Charlton met Paulette and wound him up about the predicament of himself and Hawaii's other British residents. Paulette pointed HMS Carrisfort to Honolulu. HMS Carrisfort arrived in Honolulu in early February 1843. Paulette sought an audience with Hawaii's new king, Kamehameha III, but was fobbed royally off. His Majesty was visiting another island, restringing his ukulele. Whatever. Making matters worse, King Kamehameha indicated that Paulett could speak instead to his advisor, Gerrit P. Judd, an American. Paulette then threatened to start unloading Carrisfort's cannons in the direction of Honolulu, which got him his meeting with monarch. Gunboat diplomacy. They used to call this On February 25, 1843, Paulette declared himself head of a provisional government and hoisted the Union Jack over Honolulu. Paulet had, however, somewhat overstepped his rules of engagement in that literally nobody had told him to enlarge the British Empire to the tune of the Hawaiian Archip Archipelago. Though Paulette did his best to keep his endeavours hushed, word got out, not least due to the efforts of American interests with their own designs. After five months of Paulette's rule, another Royal Navy ship, HMS Dublin, docked in Honolulu and disembarked Paulette's furious commanding officer, Rear Admiral Richard Thomas, who instructed Paulet to knock this nonsense off forthwith. On the spot in Honolulu, where Hawaii sovereignty was ceremonially restored to King Kamehameha, a park bears Thomas name today. Paulet was permitted to continue his Royal Navy career. He later served with distinction in the Crimean War, became an aide to Queen Victoria and retired an admiral. He escaped the traditional odium of the vexatious imperial officer that is being punted off to become governor of some obscure province. In the circumstances, it may have been felt that such punishment would only reward the crime. And that is all for this edition of the Monocle Daily. Thanks to our panelists today, Julie Norman and Alexander Gerlach. Today's show was produced by Tom Webb and researched by Anneliese Maynard. Our sound engineer was Elliot Greenfield. I'm Andrew Muller here in London. The Daily is back at the same time tomorrow. Thanks for listening.