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Rubbing along?

President George W. Bush waited 978 days after taking office for his invitation, and President Barack Obama waited 758 days.

Asked about the timing, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “There isn’t a set process. There isn’t a criteria set down that says X leader from X country needs to serve X days in office beforehand.”

But for some, May acted too hastily.

“It is a uniquely maladroit invitation because of its timing - there is no precedence,” said Paul Flynn, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party and member of the Petitions Committee.

Flynn, who will lead off the debate Monday, said in an interview that if Trump “had been president for four or five years, and generally there was this idea that we could rub along with you, then that’s one thing. But there is no precedent for inviting someone seven days after the inauguration.”

The petition calling for the state visit to be canceled - the second-biggest petition ever on Parliament’s website - does not seek to ban Trump from traveling to Britain. (A petition seeking that was debated by lawmakers last year.) But it does say that he should not be offered a full state visit over concerns that it could prove embarrassing for the queen.

- British lawmakers to debate Trump’s state visit, Standard.net, February 19, 2017.

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.