Mr Chris Nash
Building bridges of understanding
四海之内皆兄弟
Within the four seas, we are all one family.
Our current Chair, Mr Chris Nash, has had the privilege of living and working in China for the last ten years. He has worked in the education sector, establishing an innovative experimental school which has attempted to harmonise Chinese and British educational ideas. The majority of his graduates every year come to study in British universities, building their own bridges of understanding between China and the United Kingdom.
In these blogs, Chris will share with you some of the stories which fascinate him about China, always looking for connections between Chinese and British culture. He hopes you will enjoy reading them and invites you to discuss any issues they raise for you.
Disclaimer : These blogs represent the personal views of the Chair and are not necessarily the views of SACU as a whole.
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- East-West Dialogue Concert, 2nd February 2025 – A Great SuccessSACU was a Co-host at this sell-out concert, held at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The concert was organised by the Sino-British Ensemble, the founders were Xinyi GUO, Siyang YU and Song SHI. The UK-Beijing Arts Centre and the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) co-hosted the event. Professor Michael Wood (SACU President) gave the welcome speech to a full house. Ambassador ZHENG Zeguang and his wife Counsellor HUA Mei attended as honoured guests with Minister Counsellor BI Haibo, and Minister Counsellor ZHAO Fei from the Chinese Embassy in the UK. The Sino-British Ensemble was founded in 1994, … Read more
- A new Pax MongolicaThis week brought upsetting news of more conflict and chaos in areas of the world that were once integral to the Silk Roads between China and Europe. Geopolitics has filled the streets of Georgia with protests. The violent struggle for power in Syria has re-erupted after a period of smouldering calm. My dream of a peaceful land journey from Beijing to Europe, retracing the steps of the Silk Road, seems more distant than ever. In my last Blog I wrote about the benefits of increasing trade links between China, Europe and Britain. Here I want to look back to a … Read more
- China Meets the WorldI’m sure that all SACU members will join me in welcoming the steps taken by both Britain and China to improve their relationship recently. Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing and with representatives of the business community in Shanghai. Then, at the G20 Summit in Brazil, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Zheng Zeguang has said, “We stand ready to work with the UK side to follow up on the common understanding between the two leaders, and enhance dialogue, communication, and collaboration … Read more
- SACU attends Armistice Day Commemoration 11th November 2024Iris Yau (SACU Trustee) and Weien ZONG (SACU) represented SACU again at this year’s Armistice Day Commemoration at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Monday 11th November. They joined a contingent in honour of the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) (中国劳工旅). Iris Yau (SACU Trustee) laid a wreath in honour of the Chinese Labour Corps on behalf of SACU. The Western Front Association organises this major commemorative event every year on 11th November. Footage from SKY News, ‘Chinese Labour Corps’, 1 hour 38 minutes in here SACU joined the wreath-laying ceremony here The ‘CLC’ contingent entering the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London here The … Read more
- St Cuthbert’s Silk – Connections, ancient and modernHere in Beijing, a significant academic conference has just come to a close. From November 6th to November 8th, Beijing hosted the world’s first World Conference of Classics. The event was co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Education of China, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, the Ministry of Culture of Greece, and the Academy of Athens. An important outcome of the event was the establishment of a China Classical Civilisation Research Institute in Athens. The event gathered four hundred and eighty-five scholars from over 30 countries and regions. The event reminds us … Read more
- A Tale of Two SupermarketsAldi stores are becoming a familiar presence in Shanghai One of the undoubted changes in the UK over the last few decades has been the rise of the German supermarket chain Aldi. As we will see in this blog, the same phenomenon is now happening in China. In this blog I also want to contrast the approaches to retail in China being adopted by the Aldi company with those used by Tesco, which exited the China market in 2020. First a little bit of background. The very first ‘Aldi’ store opened in the German town of Essen in 1913. It … Read more