He buttonholed any public figure who could help, harassed the press and infuriated Foreign Office mandarins who regarded the whole affair as an irrelevant nuisance.

• 茂文求助了任何一位能提供帮助的公众人物，烦扰了新闻媒体并激怒了那些认为如此麻烦琐事同外交部毫不相关的官员。