Category: Uncategorized

SACU President Michael Wood OBE was interviewed for China Today by staff reporter ZHOU LIN. “Unless you understand China, you won’t understand what are truly common values in human society on Earth, or what are just Western idiosyncrasies.” – Michael Wood quoted Simon Leys in his interview with China today. Michael Wood is no stranger to Chinese TV audiences or readers. A famous British historian, broadcaster, and author, he has presented lots of well-known television documentary series from the late 1970s to the present day. His China-themed works – The Story of China, The Story of China’s Reform and Opening-up, and Du Fu: China’s […]

There are differences between East and West as discussed below but we have a lot in common with the East as a basis for friendship and understanding as the photographs below show. I bought a copy of the book East Side Voices edited by Helena Lee. It presents a wide spectrum of experiences and views from a variety of East and Southeast Asian individuals living in Britain. I have only ‘dipped’ into it so far, but can see some parallels with my own experience, although as a senior British Born Chinese, I am at least a generation removed from most, […]

SACU welcomed the Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable for a discussion on his new book, The Chinese Conundrum: Engagement or Conflict. Fred Hobby (SACU) Fred is currently a Global Affairs MSc student at King’s College London specialising in Chinese and Middle Eastern Politics. He graduated at the University of Manchester in History and Politics, whilst focusing on Chinese history.  How does the West wish to view China in the next 50 years? Ten years ago, it was seen as a land of opportunity, sadly times have changed. In Europe, the importance of a working economic relationship with China is often […]

President Joe Biden has described the American evacuation from Kabul as, ‘one of the most difficult airlifts in history’. Since July 2021, 18,000 evacuees were flown out and since the military airlift began on 14 August a further 13,000. Presumably he is making comparison with airlifts of people, though the Berlin airlift and the American supply of Nationalist China over the Himalayas from Assam during WWII, both of cargoes not people, were in fact far more challenging. As for the unfortunately named Operation Frequent Wind when the US evacuated Saigon in 1973, 50,000 evacuees were flown out of the frequently […]

Living and teaching in Beijing in the 1970s  Michael Sheringham  Michael is a regular contributor to China Eye. He was an early member of SACU. This article was first published in China Eye, Issue (51) Autumn 2016. It is the second of Michael’s personal memories of the early days of SACU, (see China Eye, Issue 50), and of his time in the Peoples Republic of China.  I was excited and privileged to be invited to teach at Peking University (Beijing Daxue – Beida) in 1972 after years of anticipation while I continued with my Chinese studies in London. It all comes […]