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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- 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
- Halloween Special!Superstitions are a deep part of the roots of every culture. Anyone dropping into the West on October 31st without a knowledge of the culture and customs of Halloween would be very confused by what they saw, children and adults wandering the streets in macabre outfits and demanding ‘trick or treat’. A festival like Halloween is a complex cocktail of centuries of influences, some modern and commercial, but others stretching back to the earliest attempts of people to make sense of their world. In the dark origins of Halloween we can find echoes of the ancient Celtic festival of ‘Samhain’, … Read more