Peter Wilson

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the twentieth anniversary of the tragic events that took place in Beijing and across China in 1989. The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, posted a blog on this today. Here is what he said:

So far, there has been hardly a reference to the anniversary in the domestic Chinese media. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China reports that restrictions on foreign journalists have been severely tightened. Full details from the FCCC are here:

www.fccchina.org <http://www.fccchina.org>

Peter

Posted at 10:11 03 June 2009 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[1]

UK China strategy

The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, published the UK Government's strategy towards China yesterday, 22 January. The strategy itself is on the FCO website

The Foreign Secretary launched the document in Manchester, home to the third largest Chinese community in Europe. There is a growing interest in our relationship with China, from across the whole of the UK. More than 500 British schools now teach Chinese. The Terracotta Warriors exhibition at the British Museum last year broke all records. China is in the UK news every day.

It makes sense for the UK Government to make its strategy public. The strategy makes a strong case for closer engagement with China on a range of issues. To build support this strategy over the long term, we need to make the case for engagement at home in the UK, and more broadly in Europe. The relationship does not just involve a small group, but increasingly large numbers of people, in both countries. And it will continue to grow.

The strategy had a good reception in the Chinese press this morning, including in the People's Daily, China Youth Daily and Global Times. I encourage you to read it!

This is the first time we have made a specific country strategy public. It underlines the priority the UK Government attaches to this key relationship.

Posted at 07:47 23 January 2009 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[4]

Foreign Secretary talks to young Chinese about their hopes for the 21st century, and perceptions of China and the West

Foreign Secretary talks to young Chinese about their hopes for the 21st century, and perceptions of China and the West

David Miliband came to Beijing on Friday 24 October. Before he went into ASEM meetings he met a bright group of Chinese university students (see his blog) at the Communist Youth League. You can read the full transcript of their conversation, which followed an online debate run by the China Youth Daily in the week, at UKinChina.

The conversation was an insight into young Chinese thinking about this new century and perceptions, in the West and in China. The Foreign Secretary sets out how he sees the new challenges, and how he sees China.  To use his words - it was a pretty open discussion.

Posted at 00:31 27 October 2008 by Peter Wilson  |  Comments[1]