Peter Wilson

Media freedoms for foreign press made permanent

Media freedoms for foreign press made permanent

Posted at 06:30 21 October 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[4]

China makes poverty history

China has raised more people out of poverty, in a shorter period of time, than any other country in history. Since reform and opening up began 30 years ago, launched by a famous Deng Xiaoping speech in December 1978, more than 500 million people have moved out of absolute poverty, to live on more than a dollar a day. There are still many poor people in China. Rural incomes in particular are often low - and more than half the population in this vast nation live in the countryside. But China's achievement has never been matched before. It is responsible for 80% of the movement towards the poverty target set by the UN in its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Premier Wen Jiabao went to the UN last month, to take part in a High Level Event with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and others, to galvanise a renewed global commitment to meeting all the MDGs. He talked about China's model for growth, which has been the envy of the world. He got a very warm welcome from others, keen to learn China's secret - for their own growth, and when working with others to meet development targets. But the Premier was keen to point out this was not a signal that the Central Government here is complacent - huge challenges remain. That's why the Central Party Committee that met over the last weekend focussed on rural land reform. They see this as the best way to get rural incomes to increase, and see production go up. It also signals significant changes in landuse structures in the countryside. The details are not yet clear. But a lot of people here are calling this a new revolution.

A lot of people in China say 'China is not a superpower'. They argue that average urban incomes are $2000 a year, and average rural incomes are closer to $600 a year. This is not high. But China looks different from abroad, or from its own wealthier cities. Deng's reforms famously allowed some people to get rich first. It worked, not just for them, but for society more broadly. It has created new political challenges. But they are surely better than the old ones. China's modern wealth and expertise has allowed it to do things that were previously unthinkable, such as mounting the Olympics, and more recently sending men to walk in space. These signs of aspiration inspire others to dream. New prosperity has also led to a significant expansion of China's interests, which is good for the UK and others too.

We have lessons to learn from the way China has developed - often defying development orthodoxy of the time. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has an office in Beijing, which co-operates closely with the Chinese Government, including on development in Africa. We are pursuing a joint project together, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. China's message to Africa is a positive one. Africa is rightly seen as a land of opportunity. Its growth rates are now running at 6% a year, higher than at any time in my lifetime. Huge challenges remain, particularly in some countries - not helped, in some cases, by lousy politics. Investment and aid bring new issues, and new responsibilities. They also create new hope, and increase opportunities for joint work, including learning from others' successes and failures. China often uses the phrase 'win-win'. It certainly applies to working together with Africa.

Posted at 04:12 15 October 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[4]

China's politics

Just in Shanghai to talk with a group of business people who were looking ahead at China's next year. I thought that you might be interested in the conversation.

2008 had been an extraordinary year. Snows in February, Tibet riots in March, worldwide Torch relay in April, Taiwan elections in April, Sichuan earthquake in May, the Olympics in August and Paralympics in September, and now the milk scandal as we moved towards the October national holiday next week.

Underlying this turbulence, and triumph, there were some reasons for confidence, and some for uncertainty. On the plus side, the relative resilience of the Chinese economy, the stability of the political leadership, after the last big change in personnel last October in the Party and in March this year in the Government, and China's international diplomacy - good relations with neighbours and the wider world.

But, like everywhere else, reasons for uncertainty too. It was not clear how much global financial turbulence would affect China. Protectionism was rising globally, and there was a danger we could all draw the wrong conclusion now - that closing down was a safer bet than opening up.It wasn't. The last Doha round was as big a missed opportunity for China as for the rest of us. And keeping markets in Europe and the US open depended also on China continuing to open up.

Internationally, China, like the rest of us, faced big choices - on how to handle North Korea and Iran, on how to continue building firm alliances with the US, Europe, and Japan, and a more difficult Russia. There were also choices about how to handle big thematic issues - in particular climate change. On many of these issues, China was the key swing vote - on climate change most of all. And the rest of the world wanted to hear more from China, on all these issues.

But the area of most interest was politics. No one had a clear answer on this. And of course it is a complex domestic debate. But one thing was very clear from all present. The West's interest in this issue was not borne of a desire to preach, or - more crazily - to destabilise. Rather it was borne of self interest. We all needed to understand China's direction of travel. The challenges we faced were shared. We needed China's growth, and wanted China's continued success. China had easy access to the politics of the West, and those who made decisions in it. We needed the same. Confidence and trust on both sides must grow. It would be at a premium in the coming years.

It was good to be in Shanghai - it is a refreshing, dynamic, cosmopolitan, commercial place. But I think the centre of debate on these last questions - the main focus of my work - is now, for the most part, in Beijing rather than outside it. So I am heading back.

Posted at 11:54 22 September 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[0]

The Olympics ends, and Paralympics starts soon

Many people in the Embassy, along with just around everyone else in Beijing, were involved with the Olympics in some way. And most of us have been trying to find a chance to have a quick rest, because the Paralympics, the world's second largest event, will start next week.

For Team GB, this was an astonishing Olympics. Best performance since 1908. Chris Hoy's three and Rebecca Adlington's two great golds. Some heroic individual stories, and extraordinary discipline from very determined athletes. On the Embassy side, we had just under 2,000 guests at events in the course of the Games - to welcome the athletes, promote trade and inward investment, London 2012 and our training facilities across the country. Seven high level visitors came, culminating in the Prime Minister's visit for the closing ceremony, a substantive meeting and later a lunch with President Hu, and a meeting followed by dinner with Premier Wen. We ran an operations centre round the clock for the duration of the Games, to co-ordinate all the different activities, provide help to British nationals who needed it, and collect learning points for 2012: we are analysing those lessons now. Thanks to the Prime Minister's personal intervention, one of those detained for demonstrating about Tibet was released and put on a plane hours before the Prime Minister himself left Beijing.

And this Olympics was a great moment for China. The Prime Minister called it a "spectacular" Olympics.  Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC said that "the world learned more about China, and China more about the rest of the world" A lot of very helpful volunteers must have breathed a sigh of relief, and gone home to bed.  I hope many proud Chinese athletes will be celebrating their success, although I guess, like the British athletes, many of them will have already started to train again.

The Chinese press have been writing a lot about what the success at this Games means for China. The Communist Party's leading newspaper, the People's Daily, said on 25 August that "the opportunity of the Olympics has allowed us to calmly show a more open and self confident China after 30 years of reform and opening up". The Chinese Youth Daily said that China's "people have never been so optimistic and self confident, so full of faith in their country's advancement". I hope that is how China feels about itself. Certainly for the rest of the world, which wants to engage with China, and wants China to do more in the world on so many issues, China's increased confidence on the world stage is something we want too.

People around town in Beijing are definitely very cheerful. And sport is a great subject to talk about. With more than 50 nations winning gold, and 80 taking medals, it seems that everyone has something happy to remember. The Prime Minister had been to Afghanistan on his way to Beijing - the Afghan bronze medallist in Taekwondo was their first ever medallist, he said, and was a huge source of pride.

There's a brief respite now, before the Paralympics begins on 6 September, and runs to 17 September. 145 countries will take part in 20 sports. Paralympic GB aims to come second in the medal table, as it did in Athens. That's a tall order, in some highly competitive sports. The way they work is interesting -in particular blind football, which is played five aside, with one sighted goalie, and using a special sound in the ball to follow its movement. Wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby are both supposed to be fierce, although I'm told by a leading paralympian that these days victory depends more on skill than force. There are few tickets left, and sprinting and swimming events have already completely sold out...

Posted at 17:05 28 August 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[0]

Olympic preparations gear up

Beijing is into the final strait as it gears up for the Olympics.  The most visible change is in the traffic: half the cars have been taken off the road. If your plate ended in an even number on Sunday, you got to drive. Today, Monday, it is the turn of the odd numbers. But what's left is more tightly squeezed: the Olympic lanes on key thoroughfares are being kept clear for cars with special passes, so they are almost completely empty. Skies are a bit bluer, too, as rules kick in to end big construction projects and halt production in the most polluting industries for the period of the Olympics and Paralympics in September.

There are other big changes too. The metro system when I worked in Beijing ten years ago had only two lines, which rarely went where you wanted to go, so most people biked. The lines occupied tunnels built by Mao to withstand a Soviet atom bomb. Today Beijing has a network of metro and light rail that is 220km long (only London and New York are longer). Three new lines have been built in time for the Olympics. A metro line opened up on the weekend from the airport to a downtown transport hub (that happens to be right outside our house). You can fly into Beijing and reach the centre of the city in 30 minutes, for under £2 - and then go anywhere else on the metro system for under 20p. Line 10 also opened on the weekend - it links the Capital Business District on the East side of town (where almost all foreign Embassies are, and where many foreigners live) with the high tech zone near the universities in the West. Line 8 - the Olympic line - is ready too. But it will not open until 8 August, the first day of the Games.

I took a ride on Line 10 on the weekend, to try it out.  So did a lot of other cheerful people, who went to see the Bird's Nest Stadium from the southern bit of the Olympic park. Some of the big Olympic hotels next to the stadium have large TV screens on the front, which seem to broadcast only sport. A small army of young volunteers has already started to help people out, at the airport, in the subway, and across the city. They have ready smiles, and good English. They are a good face for Beijing.

Thanks for more comments. Mark said that Tian's message meant maybe more things can now be read in China. This blog can be. I checked over the weekend. Hope it stays up.

Posted at 12:10 21 July 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[3]

China - where change is a constant theme

Today is my first day blogging. I am the British Embassy's Political Counsellor in China . That means I run a team that covers China's internal politics, its relationship with the rest of the world, our press and public affairs operation here, and our bilateral relationship with China. I am also responsible for the Olympic attache at the Embassy (one of the more unusual Foreign Office jobs) and his team.   

I am just back from two weeks away in Europe. It was just under a month to go at the Olympics.  Even with only two weeks to go, there's been change. I just got off at Beijing's new terminal three that opened in March - a Norman Foster design, that is bigger than the whole of Heathrow, tho' nowhere near as full. The airport is gearing up: young Olympic volunteers, friendly airport staff, and luggage out five minutes after I was. Not many using the Olympic channel yet, said one of the border control officials, but better to be prepared. A lot of smiles and friendliness.

Now coming back into town.  Coming in on a new road, that was not open when I left two weeks ago - not unusual for Beijing!. A second airport express way, just opened for the Olympics. It is good, tho' I am getting a bit lost now coming in a new way, past buildings that were not here a year and a half ago. The one thing I already miss, tho', is the blue skies I have been enjoying on holiday. Most Chinese still live in the countryside. But the cities, which are growing as rapidly as the economy, are polluted. Beijing's skies are grey (and it is double the size it was a decade ago).  Climate change is a big issue for this Embassy. Domestic environmental pollution, and energy conservation, are key issues for China's top politicians, because the public cares about it now, and because it makes economic sense.

Change is a constant  theme here. It is hard to get perspective on a place moving as fast as China is . I've now been back in China a year and a half, after almost ten years working on other things. I first came to Beijing in 1981, briefly, when I was 13. I came back in March 1989 as a student on vacation. And then not again until 1994, when I was studying  Mandarin in the Foreign Office (I had two years training, full time, one in London and one in Beijing) . My first posting was here , in our Commercial Section , helping British companies enter the China market . I left in 1998.  Even if blogs had existed then, the political climate here would have made it impossible to write one. That is not so true any more - although I am not sure this will be easy to access from a Chinese terminal.  But I thought it would be worth having a go, to see. 
 
There is plenty of material out there now in English to help form an impression of this country that now matters so much for all of us. And there are some really excellent British perpectives. James Kynge's China Shakes the World, published three years ago now, is still my favourite book about modern China.  Rana Mitter's Short Introduction to Modern China, which came out earlier this year, is really imaginative.  More and more British people are coming to see China for themselves: 600,000 visited last year. That exchange is two way - Chinese students are the largest foreign student community in the UK, with more than 60,000 students. I do not know who might read this, but I hope that perhaps some of those students will, and will comment.

Posted at 15:13 10 July 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[4]