‘Greek shipyards are dying, and skills acquired over millennia are dying with them,’ I told the ambassador. So I proposed, in a second phase of collaboration, that Cosco and other Chinese companies should invest in our three main shipyards, turning them into repair hubs for the container ships that Cosco would increasingly attract to our part of the Mediterranean. ‘But what is the point of securing the port of Piraeus,’ I continued, ‘if the railway that will transport your containers to central Europe is derelict, slow and unsafe?’ I argued that a similar investment in Greece’s railways made sense as well. Lastly: ‘Greece has a highly educated workforce, yet wages have fallen by 40 per cent. Why not get companies like Foxconn to build production or assembly facilities in a tech park, enjoying a special business tax regime in an area close to Piraeus?’