Peter Wilson

A year has swept by and the world has changed. A financial crisis swept away the economic optimism of early 2008. Swine flu has supplanted bird flu as a global threat. But for the millions of people caught up in the tragic Sichuan Earthquake this news can feel trivial. They continue to harbour feelings of loss for those they lost and continued shock at the power of nature. How can current affairs matter when their lives was literally ripped apart at 2.28 p.m. on 12 May 2008? For them, the post-earthquake world has changed far less.

Following the disaster, I entered the earthquake zone to track down missing British people. Memories of the massive landslides, ruined towns and injured refugees continue to evoke strong feelings. I still remember toys, furniture and shoes scattered in collapsed buildings - items whose owners were often buried beneath. When talking about a journey I made towards Yingxiu (near the epicentre), a lump of emotion can still thicken my voice.

Nick Whittingham, in the Wenchuan earthquake zone, mid May 2008

When I remember the efforts of the rescue workers, I feel admiration. I remember sharing a bus with policemen leaving the disaster area after many days of rescue efforts, their faces exhausted and shocked by what they had seen. Many had bandaged limbs ? injuries sustained during their efforts to save others. I watched scores of soldiers distributing aid and shelter to survivors. And I saw young volunteers hitchhiking along the damaged roads in search of people to help. Other hitchhikers were people returning home, unsure who or what they would find.

The names of towns I had never heard of one year ago now hold a special significance and are firmly etched in my memory. Beichuan, Dujiangyan, Mianzhu, Wenchuan - these are just some of the places that I associate with the tragic sights of one year ago. But I also associate them with the energy and fortitude of the survivors. During visits over the past year to some of these towns I have seen flimsy temporary shelters replaced by tents. These tents have then upgraded with prefabricated buildings. I have seen communities rebuild themselves, businesses emerge and people look to the future.

One year has passed. The reconstruction effort has made great strides in that time. Survivors are rebuilding their lives. But today, at 2.28 p.m. on 12 May 2009, my thoughts will return to the owners of the toys, furniture and shoes who never emerged from their concrete tombs.

Nick

There are three pillars to our strategy. The first is to get the best for the UK from China's rise. Some highlights. In education, we are now issuing more student visas than ever before (see my last blog). In science co-operation, we are on track for almost 12,000 joint research papers between British and Chinese scientists between 2006 and 2010 - we have more substantive co-operation in this area than any other country in Europe. We are making progress on migration - both legal, with the introduction of a points based system a bit like Australia's, plus by allowing students to stay and work in the UK for two years after gradulation, and in combatting illegal migration, where we, wiht the help and support of the Chinese authorities, are now sending many more people back. Our exports to China are up 40% this year, in particular in the automotive, power generation, and retail sectors. And we are now seeing higher numbers of Chinese companies investing in the UK - we were the biggest source of Chinese investment in the EU in 2007. This is good news for the UK. We worked closely on the devastating earthquake in Sichuan, and successfully located over five hundred British citizens registered as missing. China and the UK both had a good Olympics, and we will be working together on 2012 (a big group from the Beijing Organising Committee is coming across to London to share expertise, next month). The UK and the companies and regions involved have great plans for our unique pavilion at Shanghai EXPO in 2010, based round the theme "better city, better life". We are doing more, and plan to do still more, in China's secondary cities, which are growing fast, and offer great opportunities.

The second pillar is to work with China on issues where we both have a global responsibility to act. We are doing a lot together on climate change, and we have dramatically expanded our climate change network in China in the last six months. China is doing a lot domestically - the only developing economy with really tough energy efficiency and afforestation targets, that it is now coming closer to meeting. But there is much still to do, including on carbon capture and storage power stations (China is building between one and two power stations a week), and the idea that China look at low carbon development zones which would benefit us all. We are pursuing a number of initiatives that were kick started by a unique meeting in April, when our Ambassadors to other P5 countries, the UN and the EU all came to Beijing for high level discussions on key issues, including proliferation, the millennium development goals, and China/European issues. We see reform of the international financial institutions in a similar way. We are co-operating on what China calls 'hotspot issues', week by week, in particular on Iran, Sudan, and Burma, tho' on all three there is much, much more to be done.

The third pillar is working together on sustainable development, modernisation and reform. We have extensive co-operation on sustainable development, backed up by a powerful contribution from Alistair Darling's China Task Force in the UK. We now have a strong political dialogue between our countries, at a number of levels (I blogged recently about our Leadership of the Future Forum, which is just one of them). We have a human rights dialogue, which is critically important. Progress in this area is slower than in so many other areas of Chinese life, and on some issues we profoundly disagree. But that makes conversation between us important, and should not mask the areas where there is movement - for example, China's death penalty reforms, which have reduced the number of crimes to which it applies, and given the Supreme Court the obligation to review all sentences. We hope that the media freedoms introduced for the Olympics are extended. China's stability is an important interest for the rest of the world. Continued reform is vital to that.

The Consul Generals from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing, and the head of the Far Eastern Department in London, all came over for this meeting. We are a big network now - over seven hundred people, from sixteen different government departments. China's a good place to work if you are a British diplomat, too - four different centres to work in, covering the issues that most matter to us, careers at all levels, and we are expanding. So my advice to my younger Foreign Office (and other civil service) colleagues, and those thinking about joining, is - learn Chinese, while your brain is young enough to get it in, or if you are not good at languages, or are a bit older and have a particular expertise, come to China anyway (we don't run an exclusive club) - this really is a good place to work.

James, thank you very much for your kind comment, and the link to your blog. It is great both you and John are doing this! I'd like to come over and see you and the rest of your group, and learn more about what you are seeing in China, if you are up for that.