London Mayor Sadiq Khan has authorised for a blimp depicting President Trump as an angry baby to be flown near Parliament during his visit to the UK later this week.  The flying of the 19-foot high balloon will coincide with mass protests against Trump which are taking place in the capital during his official tour.

Khan giving this the green light is childish and ultimately pointless. It’s probably very satisfying to score a petty victory against a man he clearly doesn’t like. Though in reality all he has done is indirectly increased the likelihood of Trump getting re-elected.  Asinine stunts like this only reinforce the sentiments that helped get Trump elected in the first place. Regardless of his character, he was legitimately elected (until proven otherwise) the leader of the United States and thus should be treated as any other state leader.

However what’s more significant is the selective-outrage and righteous indignation on display here, not just from politicians like Khan but also a large segment of the public. Compare thismassive over-reaction to this particular politician to the 2015 visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a man who recently made himself President for life. When Jinping visited the UK three years ago his government was in the middle of a massive crackdown on human rights in China. This included jailing human rights lawyers, pervasive media censorship and the persecution of religious minority groups.

(A full analysis of human rights abuse in China can be found here).

And what was the reaction to the Chairman’s visit? There were a handful of protests from Chinese dissidents, many of whom were reportedly harassed by British police. In contrast to what is likely to occur during Trump’s visit (if it happens), there were not thousands of people marching in the streets against Chinese authoritarianism, celebrities voicing their opposition to the visit on social media and there certainly wasn’t any insulting blimp of Jinping set up with the blessing of the Mayor. In fact, numerous supporters of Jinping arrived early to cheer on their leader (and conveniently drown out protestors). To be fair, some politicians did bring up human rights during President Jinping’s visit but it had the feel of being a token gesture to deflect potential criticism.

All of this stands in stark contrast with the fact that even the very mention of Trump visiting the UK has caused hysterical uproar. The official visit was actually meant to happen in 2017 but the backlash was so severe it was cancelled. Several prominent members of the UK government, including John McDonnell the Shadow Chancellor, openly spoke out against granting the 45thPresident the right to visit. There was even a petition with 1.8 million signatures to refuse Trump a meeting with the Queen. And of course there was the feud between Trump and the Mayor of London, which is still ongoing.

But as for the dictator of China; there was just a collective shrugging of the shoulders. Maybe people aren’t aware of what’s happening in China because there isn’t enough coverage. Perhaps it’s an indication that Trump is getting too muchcoverage.

And Khan? You’d think he would have a lot to say about the Chinese government’s systematic oppression of the Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province, given how critical he’s been of Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims.

Not a word apparently. Nor did the media feel compelled to ask him at the time. If he has said anything about this issue, it’s fallen out of the headlines rather quickly. Indeed it appears Khan feels that a visit from the leader of Britain’s closest ally, albeit a vulgar one, is far more inappropriate.

Trump is many unpleasant things but it really is disappointing to see such excessive outrage over a cartoonish figure who obviously craves this kind of attention. And yet there’s little fuss when a real authoritarian shows up for afternoon tea.