Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU)

SACU Council and Working Groups Meetings - Saturday 22 October 2022
2022-10-22 11:00 - 16:00 UTC
Saturday 22 October 2022: SACU Council and Working groups meetings (online by Zoom)
11.00am-1.00pm, SACU Council – The Agenda with Zoom link will be emailed to Council members
2.30-4.00pm, Working Groups meeting – All members are very welcome to join one of the three working groups to help plan future events and initiatives

SACU Public Education Working Group
Membership Development and Support Working Group
China Connections/Chinese Heritage Working Group

If you are interested in joining the Working Groups meetings please contact membership@sacu.org.uk

China Week 2022 - Lau China Institute, King's College London
2022-10-17 - 2022-10-21 | King’s College London, Strand Campus, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
China Week: Exploring China’s Digital Revolution, 17-21 October 2022.

SACU is a supporting partner of China Week 2022 presented by the Lau China Institute, King’s College London.

The theme of the Lau China Institute’s China Week 2022 is China’s Digital Revolution, looking at the rapid transformation across all aspects of society and the economy driven by China’s advances in technology. Events held throughout the week (including face-to-face, online and hybrid) will provide a forum for discussion and contribute to the knowledge exchange on the opportunities and challenges these technological innovations present to China and the world.

Further details of China Week 2022 – including the various events taking place and how to register for them – are included in the programme accessible here.

A VIP code for SACU members to access events will be emailed to all members.

SACU Bridge Builders and Heart in Two Homes
2022-09-24 13:30 - 15:20 | Wesley Hotel Euston, 81-103 Euston Street, London, NW1 2EZ, United Kingdom
We invite everybody (SACU members and non-members) to a new public event, Bridge-Builders and Heart in two homes!
This is the afternoon session of SACU’s AGM Day, open to the public.

On: Saturday 24th September 2022
At: 1.30pm – 3.20pm
In: The Wesley Conference Hotel, London (81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ) and by Zoom
[please note the venue is in Euston Street not Euston Road!]

To register for the public afternoon event (in person or online), please use the following Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sacu-bridge-builders-tickets-409613534107

SACU was invited to be part of the CGTN Programme to mark the 50th anniversary of high-level diplomatic relations between the UK and China. Their Programme includes the Bridge Builders Series – these are people improving relations between China and the UK. SACU members Michael Wood OBE, SACU President, Dr Frances Wood, SACU Vice-President, [no relation] and Zoë Reed, Chair, have featured. For our AGM afternoon session, we are delighted that CGTN will be introducing us to other Bridge Builders – the Guo Family: influencers whose wisdom reaches around the world.

We are also delighted that SACU member Mary Ginsberg will be in conversation with artists Qu Leilei and Caroline Deane.

Mary Ginsberg, is an international banker turned art historian, with special interest in propaganda art. Many years at the British Museum, her current exhibition project is a retrospective of modern Chinese printmaking for Muban Educational Trust.

Qu Leilei grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution and has lived in the UK since 1985. His visual language represents his life’s fusion of east and west. His style is unique, producing near-photographic realism with Chinese, ink. Leilei’s extraordinary range of projects have included social politics, individual identity, architectural scenes, portraits and nudes– in paintings, prints and 3-D installations. His chief theme is humanity, variously expressed in images personal and universal.

Caroline Deane was trained in China and a collaborator with Qu Leilei. Several of Qu Leilei’s series originated with Caroline Deane, she is one of the homes and a big part of the heart—and the art…

For any questions related to SACU’s AGM Day, please email SACU Secretary: jacob@sacu.org.uk

SACU AGM 2022 - Members Only Meeting
2022-09-24 11:00 - 12:30 | Wesley Hotel Euston, 81-103 Euston Street, London, NW1 2EZ, United Kingdom
SACU’s 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held:
On: Saturday 24th September 2022
At: 11.00a.m.
In: The Wesley Conference Hotel, London (81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ) and by Zoom
[Please note the venue is in Euston Street not Euston Road!]

To register for the AGM (members only), please use the following Eventbrite link for both in person and online attendance:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sacu-agm-2022-tickets-409601277447

AGM papers have been circulated to members in a special members newsletter.
Please email SACU Secretary if you have any questions related to the AGM: jacob@sacu.org.uk

The day continues with lunch and an afternoon event open to the public
SACU Bridge Builders – the Gao family and Qu Leilei
To register for the public afternoon event (in person or online), please use the following Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sacu-bridge-builders-tickets-409613534107

SACU X UCFC Film Club: Life Without Principle (2011) Discussion
2022-07-26 19:00 - 20:00
Film Title: LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE

Directed by Johnnie To
Starring Ching Wan Lau, Richie Jen, Denise Ho
The film will be followed by a panel discussion / conversation
2011 | 107mins | Hong Kong SAR, China | rated (18TBC)
The story of three characters: an ordinary bank teller is forced to sell high risk securities to her customers, a small-time thug who delves into the futures index hoping for easy money, and a police inspector who is suddenly desperate for money.

Major Film Festival & Awards:
68th Venice Film Festival Competition Selected Film
48th Golden Horse Awards Best Director, Best Original Script
“Hong Kong helmer Johnnie To finds greed to be the root of all evil in his patchy “Life Without Principle.” – The Variety

Dr Hiu Man Chan’s recommendation:
July is a busy month for the debate about Hong Kong in the UK. As we have observed, most of media coverages are biased and fragmentary. They do not report the complexity and deep societal issues that Hong Kong as a capitalist city has been facing for a long time. Some interest groups of course also see opportunities to foreground their continuous agenda with Hong Kong and the new arrivals being used, only as a tool. As we continue to believe here at the UK-China Film Collab, a film says a thousand words. Life Without Principle (2011) portraits very well about the real problems that Hong Kong face. This reviewing experience will certainly make you more informed with necessary knowledge to question future media coverages about this special administrative region of China.

Watch the film then join the Film Club Discussion on Tuesday 26 July, 7.00-8.00pm.

SACU members will be sent the links to watch the film and then join the discussion by Zoom.

SACU’s monthly Film Club is held in collaboration with UK-China Film Collab (UCFC)

SACU Council and Working Groups Meetings - Saturday 23 July 2022
2022-07-23 11:00 - 16:00
Saturday 23 July 2022: SACU Council and Working groups meetings (online by Zoom)
11.00am-1.00pm, SACU Council – The Agenda with Zoom link will be emailed to Council members
2.30-4.00pm, Working Groups meeting – All members are very welcome to join one of the three working groups to help plan future events and initiatives

SACU Public Education Working Group
Membership Development and Support Working Group
China Connections/Chinese Heritage Working Group

If you are interested in joining the Working Groups meetings please contact membership@sacu.org.uk

Open-Air Cinema: In Conversation with Su Tong (China in Context)
2022-07-16 15:00 - 16:00 | China Exchange, 32A Gerrard Street, London, W1D 6JA, United Kingdom
Join Dr Frances Wood for an in-person audience in London as she interviews acclaimed author Su Tong 蘇童 as he joins the event virtually from China.

This hybrid event is free but booking is essential.

Online by Zoom: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/chinaexchange/713348/

In Person:
China Exchange, 32A Gerrard Street, London W1D6JA https://www.tickettailor.com/events/chinaexchange/697810/

Su Tong 蘇童 is one of China’s most acclaimed writers. His representative works include Raise the Red Lantern 《大紅燈籠高高掛》, Rice《米》, My Life as Emperor 《我的帝王生涯》, The Boat to Redemption 《河岸》, and the short story Mad Woman on the Bridge《橋上的瘋媽媽》. He was awarded the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize and was a finalist for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize. He joined China Exchange’s festival in 2018 and shared the experiences of developing his craft and ideas to a packed house. Hear how he’s approached his latest works and learn more from this master of fiction.

Dr. Frances Wood 吳芳思博士

Dr. Frances Wood read Chinese at Cambridge, joining the first SACU Youth Tour to China in 1971. She worked in the Chinese section of SOAS Library and eventually became Curator of the Chinese Collections in the British Library, retiring in 2013. She has travelled extensively in China and written many books, including The Blue Guide to China, The Silk Road, Did Marco Polo Go To China? The Lure of China, The Forbidden City, The Diamond Sutra, Betrayed Ally and Great Books of China amongst other things. She is currently the Vice President of SACU.

SACU presents this event in partnership with Sinoist Books.

About our Event Partner

Sinoist Books
Sinoist Books is a UK-based independent press that publishes only the best in translated Chinese literature and contemporary fiction.

This event is part of the Chinese Write Now 2022 festival at China Exchange. The full programme and tickets for other events can be found here

SACU X UCFC Film Club – A Dog Barking at the Moon (2019)
2022-06-28 19:00 - 20:00
SACU members are invited to join SACU X UCFC Film Club on Tuesday 28 June, 7.00-8.00pm to discuss this month’s film:
A DOG BARKING AT THE MOON (2019)
Watch the film on CATHAYPLAY or AMAZON
Don’t forget to watch the movie first before coming to the online session: JOIN HERE
SACU’s monthly Film Club is held in collaboration with UK-China Film Collab (UCFC).
Dr Hiu Man Chan, SACU member and founder of UK-China Film Collab, will facilitate the discussion.

Negotiating the New Normality: BPCS Conference 2022
2022-06-23 08:30 - 2022-06-24 17:30 | China Centre, Dickson Poon Building, Canterbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6HP
Co-sponsored by SACU:
Thursday 23 and Friday 24 June, Oxford: British Postgraduate Network for Chinese Studies, Annual Conference 2022 The BPCS Annual Conference 2022 – ‘Negotiating the New Normality’ – intends to provide a platform for scholars of Chinese studies to reflect on how China positions itself in the new global order, and how individuals are adapted to the new normality.
Tickets and schedule available from Eventbrite (here).
For more information, please visit http://bacsuk.org.uk/bpcs-annual-conference-2022-programme.

The Chinese Conundrum: Engagement or Conflict - Book Talk with Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable
2022-06-16 19:00 - 20:00 | The Exchange, St Mary’s University, 75 London Road, Twickenham, London, TW1 1BE, United Kingdom
SACU has invited the Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable to talk about his book The Chinese Conundrum: Engagement or Conflict?
This Free Event is Hybrid – by Zoom and In-person.

Register in advance on Eventbrite:
“The Chinese Conundrum: Engagement or Conflict” Book talk with Vince Cable Tickets, Thu 16 Jun 2022 at 19:00 | Eventbrite

Event access:
In-person (limited tickets): St Mary’s University, Twickenham.
Address: The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham, London, TW1 1BE
We encourage audiences to travel by public transport where possible. The venue is right opposite Twickenham station. Trains to Twickenham run regularly from Waterloo, Vauxhall and Clapham Junction. Bus routes 110, 267 and 281 pass outside the venue. More details about the venue, please check https://exchangetwickenham.co.uk Contact: 020 8240 2399
​Online (Zoom): One day before the event, you will be sent an invitation email link to register in advance on Zoom. If you register within one day of the event you will receive the invitation email one hour before the event starts.

About Vince Cable
The Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2017-2019; He served as Member of Parliament for Twickenham 1997-2015 and 2017-2019; Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade (2010-2015); Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems 2007-2010; and Shadow Chancellor 2003-2010.
Vince is currently a Professor in Practice at the Institute of Global Affairs, London School of Economics (LSE); A Visiting Professor at the School of Economics, University of Nottingham; A Visiting Professor at the Institute of business, Law and Society, St Mary’s University.
About Iris Yau
The talk will be chaired by 丘靜雯 Iris Yau FRSA FHEA. Iris is a member of the Council at the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU); a fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA); a fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK (Advance HE); Iris has curated and produced exhibitions including ‘Iris’s Silk Route’ at University of the Arts London, ‘Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China’ at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS University of London.

Q&A
There will be Q&As after Sir Vince Cable’s presentation. Please send your questions to: events@sacu.org.uk
If you have other queries about the event, please contact the Event Leader Iris Yau (SACU Council) by email: iris@sacu.org.uk

SACU ChinaChat: China and the Ukraine Crisis
2022-06-09 17:00 - 18:00
This SACU ChinaChat is a members only event as a follow up to SACU’s Panel Discussion: China and the Ukraine Crisis, which took place Wednesday 25 May 2022.

View the SACU Panel Discussion: China and the Ukraine Crisis on SACU’s YouTube channel here

Further details to be announced.

SACU ChinaChats enable members to discuss and develop their own understanding of issues. The meetings are not recorded and are for SACU members only.

Event Leader: Arron Van Rompaey (SACU Council) email: arron@sacu.org.uk

SACU X UCFC FILM CLUB - HAVANA DIVAS (2018)
2022-05-31 19:00 - 20:00
SACU members are invited to join SACU X UCFC Film Club on Tuesday 31 May at 7.00pm to discuss this month’s film: HAVANA DIVAS (2018), written and directed by Louisa Wei.
Watch the film on CATHAYPLAY.
Don’t forget to watch the movie first before coming to the online session: JOIN HERE

SACU’s monthly Film Club is held in collaboration with UK-China Film Collab (UCFC).
Dr Hiu Man Chan, SACU member and founder of UK-China Film Collab, will facilitate the discussion.

Dragon Boat Festival 2022 at Salford Quays
2022-05-29 11:00 - 17:00 | Dock 9, Huron Basin, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ, United Kingdom
SACU is an official sponsor of this great fun day out at Salford Quays.

The UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a premier annual Chinese culture event held at Salford Quays. It combines traditional Chinese community celebrations and fun activities which make it a fantastic way to spend the day with family and friends.

Organised by Xinhua Chinese Association (XCA)

Public Transport Directions (Salford Quays)
Bus: 50/51/53/79; Stop: MediaCityUK
Metro Link: Blue Line; Stop: MediaCityUK

China and the Ukraine Crisis: SACU Panel Discussion
2022-05-25 18:00 - 19:30
SACU brings together a panel of expert speakers to discuss China’s response and position to the Ukraine Crisis.

About this event
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine is proving catastrophic for Ukraine’s people and also for the wider world. A new era is opening up to be defined not only by the outcome of the war but also by the global response to it. As an emerging world leader, China’s response in particular is crucial.
China has said that the situation ‘is not what it wishes to see’, but in its unwillingness to condemn the Russian invasion, it has been criticised for failing to act responsibly as a global stakeholder. Some even see its commitment to a friendship with Russia ‘without limits’ as dividing the world into bloc politics.
China says it stands for peace and has offered to play the role of mediator although nothing seems to have come of this so far. Nevertheless, China has a tendency to look to the longer term.
To help in understanding China’s role and position in this crisis, SACU has brought together a panel of excellent speakers to explore the various perspectives involved.

Event access

Reserve your place on Eventbrite here.

One day before the event, you will be sent an invitation email link to register in advance on Zoom. If you register within one day of the event you will receive the invitation email one hour before the event starts.
There will be some time for Q&A. You are invited to submit questions in advance to the Event Leader, Arron Van Rompaey: arron@sacu.org.uk

Panel
Victor Gao is Vice President of CCG (Centre for China and Globalisation), the Chair Professor of Soochow University, and the Chairman of China Energy Security Institute. He has extensive experience in government, diplomacy, securities regulation, legal, investment banking, PE, corporate management, and media.
Victor was Deng Xiaoping’s English interpreter in the 1980s. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a M.A. in International Relations from the Political Science Department of Yale Graduate School, an M.A. in English from Beijing University of Foreign Studies, and a B.A. in English from Suzhou University, and is a licensed attorney-at-law in the State of New York.
Dr Wang Qi is Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in the UK. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in 1995 where he worked in the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, and in the next 18 years had served alternately and twice at the Department and the Chinese Embassy in the United States. From 2013 to 2019, he worked at the Office of the Foreign Affairs Leading Group of the CPC Central Committee. In 2019, he was assigned to London to take up his current position and first posting in Europe.
Dr Jenny Clegg is an independent writer and researcher, a long time China specialist, and a lifelong member and now a Vice-President of SACU. A former Senior Lecturer in International and Asia Pacific Studies, her published work includes China’s Global Strategy: towards a multipolar world (Pluto Press, 2009) and Fu Manchu and the ‘Yellow Peril’: the making of a racist myth (Trentham Books, 1994). She has published articles in various journals, both academic and non-academic, and has taken part in numerous public events and webinars. She is active in the peace and anti-war movement in Britain.

Martin Jacques is the author of the global best-seller When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order, which was first published in 2009. It has since sold over 350,000 copies and been translated into fifteen languages. The second edition of the book – greatly expanded, revised and updated – was published in 2012.

Martin is a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and Fudan University, Shanghai. Until recently, he was a Senior Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge University, and was previously a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at IDEAS, a centre for diplomacy and grand strategy at the London School of Economics. He was also a Fellow of the Transatlantic Academy, Washington DC.
John Gittings is a journalist and author who is mainly known for his work on modern China. John first travelled to China with SACU in 1971 and has kept in regular contact with the organisation over many years. After teaching at the University of Westminster, he worked at The Guardian (UK) for twenty years as chief foreign leader-writer and East Asia Editor (1983-2003). He is currently a Research Associate at the China Institute, School of Oriental & African Studies, London University, and an Associate Editor of the Oxford International Encyclopaedia of Peace. His book The Glorious Art of Peace: From the Iliad to Iraq, was published in 2012.

Konstantinos Tsimonis is a Lecturer in Chinese Society at the Lau China Institute, King’s College London. He is a member of the editorial board of the People’s Map of Global China, and of the Advisory Editorial Board of the Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations (IIR), Athens and a Fellow of the Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation (MEPIELAN), Athens.

His books include a monograph titled, The Chinese Communist Youth League: Juniority and Responsiveness in a Party Youth Organization by Amsterdam University Press (Amsterdam: 2021); and Belt and Road: The First Decade by Agenda Publishing (Newcastle: 2022), co-authored with Dr Igor Rogelja (UCL). He is currently working with Dr Fernanda Odilla (Bologna & KCL) on an edited volume titled Corruption and Anti-Corruption Upside Down: New Perspectives from the Global South for the Political Corruption and Governance Series, Palgrave Macmillan. His articles have appeared in Modern China, Europe-Asia Studies, the Chinese Journal of International Politics, the Chinese Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Youth Studies, among others. His research has been funded by various organisations, including the British Academy and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Chair

Keith Bennett is a researcher and consultant on China’s international relations and a long time SACU member.

SACU X UCFC Film Club – Tuesday 26 April
2022-04-26 19:00 - 20:00
SACU members are invited to join SACU X UCFC Film Club on Tuesday 26 April at 7.00pm to discuss this month’s film: Mountains May Depart.
Watch the trailer and rent the video on the BFI Player:
https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-mountains-may-depart-2015-online
Don’t forget to watch the movie first before coming to the online session: JOIN HERE

SACU’s monthly film club is held in collaboration with UK-China Film Collab (UCFC). Dr Hiu Man Chan, SACU member and founder of UK-China Film Collab will facilitate the discussion.
Mountains May Depart (2015) is directed by JIA Zhangke (A Touch of Sin, Still Life, The World).
“Jia Zhangke delivers a picture every bit as ambitious, astute and humane as his previous films, covering three time periods in the life of a group of friends who become family. We open on the eve of the new Millennium and Chinese capitalism is burgeoning. Tao must choose a suitor between flashy Zhang, with his fancy motor and stoic worker Liangzi. The film then jumps forward, catching up with the characters 15 and 25 years later.” (BFI)

SACU Council and Working Groups Meetings - Saturday 23 April 2022
2022-04-23 11:00 - 16:00
Saturday 23 April 2022: SACU Council and Working groups meetings (online by Zoom)
11.00am-1.00pm, SACU Council – The Agenda with Zoom link will be emailed to Council members
2.30-4.00pm, Working Groups meeting – All members are very welcome to join one of the three working groups to help plan future events and initiatives

SACU Public Education Working Group
Membership Development and Support Working Group
China Connections/Chinese Heritage Working Group

If you are interested in joining the Working Groups meetings please contact membership@sacu.org.uk

SACU Reading Group on May Fourth Writers and their writing - Monthly Discussion Meeting
2022-04-13 18:00 - 19:30
We will continue to discuss the writings of Ding Ling 丁玲 based on two short stories, “Shanghai, Spring 1930 – Part 2” and “When I was in Xia Village” (1940) at our next group meeting.
Ding Ling made the transition from writing about self-indulgent bourgeois women to one who observed at close hand the life of working people, particularly the peasants in the countryside. She became a feminist writer within the ranks of the communist community in Yan’an and an influential literary figure throughout her life.

New participants to the group are welcome!
Please email: membership@sacu.org.uk

SACU X UCFC Film Club - Tuesday 29 March
2022-03-29 19:00 - 20:00
SACU is pleased to announce a new monthly film club in collaboration with UK-China Film Collab (UCFC). Members are invited to watch a curated film each month and to participate in an online discussion. The forum will be casually moderated by Dr Hiu Man Chan, a SACU member and also Founder & Director of UCFC. The film club will schedule to e-meet every last Tuesday of the month between 19:00 and 20:00. Here is the selected film for our launching event in March:

BETTER DAYS (2019) & your host’s recommendation
Directed by Derek Tsang, BETTER DAYS (2019) is one of the most popular films targeting the young Chinese consumer market recently. It tells a story about school bullying and how teenagers fight against this social issue in contemporary China. Unlike the Fifth Generation directors such as Zhang Yimou and his films, what we see in Better Days is an ever changing China. This film enables us to understand how the young generation of Chinese thinks via an ever so compelling narrative.
BETTER DAYS was submitted to the OSCARS to compete in the Best Foreign Film category in 2021.
This film is available to watch on Amazon. Feel free to watch it any time before our online gathering. For a better viewing experience, you can always airplay the viewing to your smart TV. If you are interested in signing up for the monthly film club event, please register here to support our coordination or email for more information: membership@sacu.org.uk

Standing Up To Sinophobia - Saturday 19 March 2022
2022-03-19 | Outside BBC, Portland Place, London, W1A 1AA
Calling all SACU members and friends … support this global demonstration of anti-racist, anti-racism against people with Chinese/East Asian heritage.

View SACU Chair’s invitation to come demonstrate with us on 19 March 2022:
Zoe’s invitation on YouTube

Date: 19 March on United Nations Anti-Racism Day
Time: Assemble: 12 noon
Where: Outside BBC, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA (look for SACU’s Banner or a Chinese Lion)
Nearest Tube stations: Oxford Circus – Goodge Street – Warren Street

SACU Reading Group on May Fourth Writers - Wednesday 16 March
2022-03-16 18:00 - 19:30
SACU Reading Group on May Fourth Writers and their writing – Led by Michael Sheringham (SACU)
We have been meeting online to discuss Chinese literature of the May Fourth period – roughly from the beginning of the 1920s to the end of the ‘30s – for the past 8 months. We are a small group meeting once a month to discuss stories and poems by well-known writers of the period, including Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Bing Xin, Guo Moruo, Lin Shuhua, Ding Ling, Xiao Hong, Xiao Jun and Yu Dafu – well-known in China, but not so much overseas even among those interested in China and its cultural tradition.
SACU members are welcome to join any meeting – we usually meet online at 6.00-7.30 pm on Wednesday mid-month.
For more information email: membership@sacu.org.uk

Young SACU Hotpot - Saturday 26 February, 8.00pm
2022-02-26 20:00 | Haidilao HotPot, Unit 4/5 Coventry Street, London, W1D 7DH, United Kingdom
Come and chat about China!
We would love to welcome you to Young SACU’s first Hotpot event – aimed at young people with China experience or an interest in engaging with China.
Come and discuss your time in China while enjoying delicious Haidilao Hotpot!
This event is open to everyone, both SACU members and the general public.
£23 per person (all food included!)

Reserve your place on Eventbrite here

SACU Council and Working Groups Meeting - Saturday 22 January
2022-01-22 11:00 - 16:00
Saturday 22 January 2022: SACU Council and Working groups meetings
11.00am-1.00pm, SACU Council – The Agenda with Zoom link has been emailed to Council members
2.30-4.00pm, Working Groups meeting – All members are very welcome to join one of the three working groups to help plan future events and initiatives.

SACU Public Education Working Group
Membership Development and Support Working Group
China Connections/Chinese Heritage Working Group

If you are interested in joining the Working Groups meeting please contact membership@sacu.org.uk

From Pith Paper Painting to the Thirteen Hongs of Canton: Sharing Stories about the Maritime Silk Road
2021-12-10 10:00 - 12:00
The China National Tourist Office (CNTO) London and partners will co-present an online talk about Pith paper painting. SACU Vice President Dr Frances Wood will talk with Mr Alastair Blackburn and experts in Guangzhou in this latest edition of “Rediscover China in the UK series”.

This event will be hosted by Dr Frances Wood, who is a well-known sinologist and Vice-President of the Society for Anglo Chinese Understanding. Mr Alastair Blackburn who was a British collector of pith paper paintings, Dr Cunjie Cheng, who was a Chinese expert on pith paper paintings, the curator of the Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen’s Mansion, and Mr Heng Wang, who was honorary curator of Guangzhou Thirteen Hongs Museum will have lectures and dialogues. By sharing the story behind the pith paper paintings, following the history of pith paper paintings and the current status of research, explaining collections of the Guangzhou Thirteen Hongs Museum, the audience will look back at the history of Chinese and Western civilisations exchange.

This event is organised by China National Tourist Office (CNTO) London, the UK Research and Development Centre for Chinese Traditional Culture (UKCTC), China Travel Service & Information Centre (CTSIC).

For more information see the attachment on Pith Paper Paintings, sent to us by Yu Peng, Minister Counsellor, Cultural Office, Chinese Embassy in the UK: Explaining Pith Paper Painting

This event is Free. Please Register on Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-pith-paper-painting-to-the-thirteen-hongs-of-canton-tickets-221664112327

China, Climate Change, COP26 - What Comes Next? SACU Panel Discussion
2021-12-08 17:30 - 19:00
SACU has assembled an excellent speaker panel to discuss China and the post COP26 period.

This is a free online event on Wednesday 8th December, 5.30pm-7.00pm (GMT)

About this event

SACU’s Expert Panel will discuss what comes next for China and the world following COP26, with a focus on addressing the following questions:

How should China’s involvement in COP26 be assessed and what role will it play in tackling climate change post COP26?
What opportunities or challenges does China face in adhering to its green pledges? Is it doing enough in terms of policymaking and implementation, and grass roots mobilisation?
How should countries around the world, and the developed West in particular, engage with China for the benefit of tackling the climate crisis?

Panel:
Professor Astrid Nordin is Chair of Chinese International Relations in the Lau China Institute KCL, prior to which she was Professor of World Politics and Founding Director of Lancaster University China Centre. She is also Senior Fellow of the Institute for Social Futures, and Associate Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Astrid’s research draws on Chinese and other global traditions of thought to understand global challenges as they relate to China’s growing global role.
Dr Joy Zhang is an Associate Professor and Director of Studies in Sociology, at the University of Kent. A Chinese-born British sociologist with a first degree in medicine, her research concerns the transnational governance of scientific uncertainty, with a focus on Sino-European contexts. Joy has previously headed the ESRC-funded project ‘Governing Accountability in China’s Life Sciences: A Comparative Study of Stem Cell and GM Food Governance’.
Denis Fernando is a Climate Change Activist. He has been part of the Occupy London movement and an Officer for the National Union of Students representing African, Arabs Asian and Caribbean students, as well as being a student union officer at Goldsmith College and University of London Union. Denis is also a songwriter and musician whose work has featured across BBC Radio and RTE Lyric.
Sam Geall is Executive Director of China Dialogue and associate faculty at the University of Sussex. His research focuses on climate policy and politics, energy transition, and environmental governance in China, as well as the impact of Chinese investment through the Belt and Road Initiative. He has authored several books including China and the Environment: The Green Revolution (2013).
Chair:
Carlos Martinez is an author and activist, as well as a SACU member. He writes regularly for the Morning Star and is a co-founder of No Cold War.
There will be some time for Q&A. You are invited to submit questions in advance to events@sacu.org.uk
Event access

Reserve your place on Eventbrite: https://sacu-china-climatechange-cop26_publicevent.eventbrite.co.uk/
One day before the event, you will be sent an invitation email link to register in advance on Zoom
If you register within one day of the event you will receive the invitation email one hour before the event starts

Shakespeare and the Sinophone World - SACU and Partners Online Event
2021-12-03 18:30 - 19:30
Asian Embodiment of a White Canon: Shakespeare and the Sinophone World:
This event is part of the China and the West: Cultural Dialogues series, sponsored by Georgetown University’s Future of the Humanities Project (a partnership with Campion Hall, Oxford, and Blackfriars Hall, Oxford) in cooperation with SACU.

Shakespeare’s tragedies have inspired incredible work in the Sinophone theatres of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The tragedies have been reimagined as political theatre, feminist operas, Buddhist meditations, and even comedies and parodies…
Featured:
Alexa Alice Joubin writes about race, gender, and cultural globalization. Her latest book, Shakespeare and East Asia, was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. She co-authored Race with Martin Orkin, which was published in Routledge’s New Critical Idiom series in 2019.
Michael Scott (moderator) is Fellow and Senior Dean at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford (and SACU).
This Zoom event is free but reservations are required: More information and reservations here

China Week 25-29 October 2021 - SACU partners the Lau China Institute, King's College London
2021-10-25 08:00 - 2021-10-29 17:00 | King’s College London, Strand Campus, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
We are delighted to take part as partners for the Lau China Institute‘s China Week, a flagship series of events on China, climate change and the environment. The inaugural China Week will be held from 25th-29th October, the week prior to the UN COP26 in Glasgow, as a forum for discussion on China’s role in addressing the greatest global challenge of our time. We invite you to join us for a week of high-level panel discussions, film screenings, book launches, photography exhibitions, and much more, featuring special guests and leading China experts from the UK and across the globe. Our audience will be a range of policy-makers, industry leaders, MPs and researchers with an interest in China’s environmental & climate change policies.
There will be a range of hybrid and online events during the week featuring speakers from the World Economic Forum, United Nations Environment Programme, Harvard Business School, Chatham House, China Dialogue, the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change at the London School of Economics, Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University, Australian National University, World Resources Institute, the Institute for International Political Studies and more.
Please find full details on each event during the week: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/series/china-week
and on the Lau China Institute’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lauchinainstitute

The Case for Cross Cultural Dialogues: Webinar Discussion on Literature and Art - SACU in Partnership with Blackfriars Oxford and Georgetown University, USA
2021-10-22 16:00 - 17:15
In this webinar U.K. historians Professors Michael Wood and Kerry Brown (both SACU members) will discuss their enthusiasm for Chinese literature, art, and performance with Kathryn Temple of Georgetown University and Tong Ping, a native of Chengdu—a city famed for its pandas but also as an intersection of differing Chinese cultures. The discussion will be co-chaired by Michael Scott, who has held fellowships at two Chinese universities and published a book in China on the stories of King Arthur (and SACU member), and Barnaby Powell, SACU Council member, a veteran of development banking in East Asia and co-author of three books on China.

Georgetown University U.S.A. and Blackfriars Hall Oxford, in co-operation with SACU, are running a monthly series of zooms on cross cultural studies of Chinese and Western culture as part of a Future of Humanities Project.

It is aimed at anyone interested in exploring and discussing the rich Chinese culture and history and looking at some of the Western comparisons.

Register for this free webinar at: https://georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_45sQsbHJSVCqMo8lHjeiZA

For details, see websites:
https://global.georgetown.edu/series/china-and-the-west-cultural-dialogues
https://global.georgetown.edu/events/the-case-for-cross-cultural-dialogues

SACU Council and Working Groups meetings, Saturday 16 October 2021 by Zoom
2021-10-16 11:00 - 16:00
SACU Council (morning) and three Working Groups Meetings (afternoon).
11.00am-1.00pm: This will be the first meeting of SACU’s Council of Management since the AGM and takes place on Saturday 16 October 2021, by Zoom. The Agenda and papers with embedded Zoom link have been emailed to SACU Council members.
2.30-4.00pm: All SACU members are invited to join SACU’s Working Groups meeting by Zoom to plan the programme of upcoming events and help further SACU’s mission. The Agenda with embedded Zoom link was included in the October Members Newsletter, (distributed on Tuesday 12 October).
The 3 Working Groups groups are:

Public Education
Membership Support and Development
China Connections and Heritage

Please email for further information: membership@sacu.org.uk

1921 (film) - SACU Co-Sponsors Special Online Screening
2021-10-02 19:00 - 22:00
This is a special online screening of ‘1921’, a full length feature film produced to mark this year’s centenary of the Communist Party of China. It is set against the background of the intense class struggle waged by the young Chinese working class in Shanghai in particular. The action also takes us to Moscow, Paris and elsewhere. Key early Chinese communists like Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping all feature in this not to be missed film.
A review by Friends of Socialist China co-editor and SACU member Keith Bennett can be read online.
Please note the film is in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles.

Who is organising the screening?
This event is organised by Friends of Socialist China, in coordination with Trinity Cine Asia. SACU is a co-sponsor along with the Morning Star, the Geopolitical Economy Research Group, the International Manifesto Group, and Qiao Collective.
How does the online screening work?
At the start time (7pm Britain, 2pm US Eastern, 11am US Pacific), registered users will receive (by email) a link to stream the film. They will then have a three-hour window in which to watch it.
Why is there a charge for this event?
Please note that Friends of Socialist China are not making any money from the showing; their purpose in arranging it is to ensure that its important political and cultural content reaches a wider audience. However, Trinity Cine Asia, with whom they are partnering to organise the screening, have paid the costs of distribution and marketing; therefore all proceeds go to them.

For more information about the film and to register please follow this Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/special-online-showing-of-1921-tickets-170177556653

SACU AGM, Saturday 2 October - in person and by Zoom
2021-10-02 12:00 - 13:30 | Wesley Hotel Euston, 81-103 Euston Street, London, NW1 2EZ, United Kingdom
SACU’s 2021 Annual General Meeting [AGM] will be held
On: Saturday 2 October 2021
At: 12.00 noon after the preceding public event “Railways and Reunions” at the same venue
In: Wesley Conference Hotel, 81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ and by Zoom

SACU’s AGM will receive the Annual Report of the Council of Management and the Annual Accounts for 2020.
Papers and links have been sent to all members:

Minutes of AGM 2020
Annual Report of the Council of Management 2020
Annual Accounts 2020
Proposed Constitution which will become the Constitution for SACU once it is confirmed as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation CIO

Notice of Special Resolutions:
The following resolutions are proposed to this AGM and must be passed by a majority of at least 75% of those members casting their votes

That the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding convert to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
That the new CIO constitution circulated to members with this notice and available to them at this meeting be adopted as the new constitution of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding taking effect from the time of registration as a CIO by the Charities Commission.

We look forward to welcoming SACU members to this AGM, either in person or via Zoom.

Please contact our Secretary if you have any questions about the AGM: membership@sacu.org.uk
