10 September 2010

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (286)... The Sequel!

This week's bonus joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Telegraph (from Friday, September 10; link good at time of posting):
China's top-ranking UN diplomat embarked on a drunken rant against the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, telling his boss he'd "never liked" him, and adding for good measure that he didn't like Americans either.

The outburst by Sha Zukang at a retreat for top UN officials in the Austrian ski resort of Alpbach left senior UN officials cringing in embarrassment as others tried to convince him to put down the microphone, according to Washington-based Foreign Policy magazine.

"I know you never liked me Mr. Secretary-General – well, I never liked you, either," said Mr Sha as Mr Ban looked on, smiling and nodding awkwardly during the 15-minute toast attended by the UN's top brass.

....

"You've been trying to get rid of me," said 62-year-old Mr Sha according to the senior UN official present, "You can fire me anytime, you can fire me today."

Later in his impromptu speech Mr Sha turned to an American colleague, singling out Bob Orr, from the executive office of the secretary-general.

"I really don't like him: he's an American and I really don't like Americans," he said.

A second senior UN official who was at the dinner said: "It went on for about ten or fifteen minutes but it felt like an hour."
[Previous TGIS]

No comments: