Memorandum submitted by Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (China)
IV UK REPRESENTATION
AND ACTIVITIES
IN CHINA
Representation
36. Our diplomatic representation in China consists
of our Embassy in Beijing, and Consulates-General in Shanghai,
Guangzhou and a newly-opened Consulate-General in Chongqing. We
have a separate Consulate-General in the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, which also covers the Macau Special Administrative Region.
37. Diplomatic activity in China includes
political, commercial, inward investment, economic, defence, press
and public affairs, science and technology, consular, immigration,
law enforcement, and management work. The Departure for International
Development (DFID) and the British Council operate in China respectively
as the development, and education and cultural arms of the Embassy.
The total staff (including British Council and DFID) covering
these activities is summarised in Annex A together with comparative
figures for France, Germany and the United States.
Bilateral Political contacts
38. Bilateral visits are an essential element
of our overall policy of constructive engagement with China. High-level
visits enable us to cement relationships and to develop further
areas for co-operation. They also provide opportunities to raise
our concerns on a number of important issues including human rights,
Tibet and cross-Straits tensions.
39. In October 1999 President Jiang Zemin
made the first ever Chinese State visit to the UK, reciprocating
the visit by Her Majesty the Queen to China in 1986. During President
Jiang's visit, a wide range of issues was discussed, and major
commercial contracts worth a total of about £2 billion were
signed.
40. Other recent high-level Chinese visitors
to the UK have included Premier Zhu Rongji in April 1998 (his
first overseas trip as Premier), and Vice Premier Wu Bangguo and
Defence Minister Chi Haotian, both in January 2000. Over the last
year, others have included the Minister for Foreign Trade and
Economic Co-operation Shi Guangsheng, Justice Minister Gao Changli,
Vice Minister of the State Development Planning Commission Li
Rongrong, Deputy Procurator Zhang Qiong, Vice Minister of Science
and Technology Xu Guanhua, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory
Commission Ma Yongwei and Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng.
41. The Prime Minister paid a highly successful
visit to China in October 1998 and agreed a Joint Statement on
UK/China relations with Premier Zhu Rongji. (A copy of this is
attached at Annex B.) Other visitors to China in 1998 included
the Deputy Prime Minster, the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary
of State for Trade and Industry (Mrs Beckett), the Secretary of
State for International Development and the Minister of Agricultures,
Fisheries and Food. In 1999, visits were made by the Trade and
Industry Secretary (Mr Byers), the Secretary for Culture, Media
and Sport, the Lord Mayor of London, the Lord Chancellor, Madam
Speaker, the FCO Minister of State Mr Battle, the Minister for
Trade, Mr Caborn, and the Minister for Science, Lord Sainsbury.
Those who have visited or who plan to visit this year include
the Deputy Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Defence,
the Secretary of State for International Development, the Secretary
of State for Education and Employment, the Economic Secretary
to the Treasury, the Minister for Trade and the Minister of State
for Agriculture (Ms Quin).
SPONSORED VISITS
42. The FCO operates a Sponsored Visits
programme to bring senior government officials, academics, journalists
and other decision-makers to the UK. £120,000 was devoted
to this purpose in China in 1999-2000. We are planning to spend
£150,000 in the current financial year.
43. Sponsored visitors from China expected
during 2000 include the Minister for the State Environment Protection
Agency, Xie, Zhenhua, Director of the State Administration of
Radio, Film and Television, Tian Congming, and Vice Minister of
Construction Zheng Yijun. The Mayor of Chongqing has also been
invited to visit in July.
Chevening Scholarships
44. The FCO-funded "Chevening"
scholarship programme provides post-graduate scholarships for
up and coming officials and other potential leaders and opinion-formers.
It is an invaluable way of enhancing UK influence and support
for the UK in China. Following his visit to China in October 1998,
the Prime Minister announced a substantial increase in the Chevening
scholarship programme for China. This programme now provides over
100 scholarships at a cost of almost £2 million a year, making
it the largest single country programme under the Chevening scheme.
Other Bilateral Programmes
45. In addition to the Sponsored Visits
and Chevening Scholarship programmes, the FCO has two other significant
programmes in China:
46. The ASSIST (Assistance in Support of
Stability Through In-Service Training) programme (amounting to
£80,000 in the financial year 2000-01) is focussed on police
training to enhance UK/Chinese liaison in fighting narcotics trafficking
and other organised crime, and to introduce the Chinese police
to the concepts of UK policing. We hope to build on these exchanges
and secure Chinese agreement to cooperation focussing more closely
on adoption of ethical policing methods and respect for human
rights. We plan to use part of this year's ASSIST Challenge Fund
to support a high-profile UN Peace-Keeping Seminar, scheduled
to coincide with the visit of the Secretary of State for Defence
in June 2000.
47. The FCO also has a budget which is designed
to be spent on individual projects in support of FCO objectives
which cannot be funded under other programmes. Projects for the
Financial Year 1999-2000 (during which £75,000 was spent
on China) included a Drugs Workshop, and three projects designed
to enhance Britain's profile in the Chinese media. In the current
Financial Year we will be supporting, with a budget of £75,000,
a number of projects including a study tour on urban transport
and the environment for Chinese municipal leaders, and work attachments
for officials from Chongqing Investment Office.
Public diplomacy
48. As part of our ongoing activities, the
Embassy is engaged in a major public diplomacy effort in China,
designed to promote the UK as a modern, innovative and dynamic
partner for China in the 21st century. The then Secretary of State
for Trade and Industry, Margaret Beckett, launched the highly
successful Britain in China campaign in January 1998. The Embassy
and its local partners send out more than 50,000 copies of Chinese
language brochures and magazines every year, targeted at national
and local decision makers and the "successor generation"
of educated professionals. Stories on Britain's science, creative
industries and inward investment opportunities are regularly placed
in the national press. The Embassy is currently launching a bilingual
website, which is attracting widespread interest. Monthly audiences
for programmes on Chinese television incorporating FCO footage
total more than 150 million.
Cultural and Educational Links
49. The British Council takes the lead in
promoting cultural and educational links. The Council operates
from three offices in China (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou),
with a fourth due to open in Chongqing in July this year. The
Council is giving high priority to the expansion of its work in
China.
50. The British Council's cultural activities
in China are covered by a Cultural Exchange Programme agreed with
the Chinese. This agreement does not set out a definitive programme
but is designed to facilitate a range of exchanges and contacts.
In practice activities include carefully targeted exchanges of
visits, concerts, performances, exhibitions and other creative
events in order to help project a positive image of modern Britain.
The Council is also active in promoting the work of British creative
industries and seeking ways to extend their involvement in the
China market. There is a similar wide ranging programme of scientific
exchanges and activities.
51. The Council attaches priority to promoting
the use of the English language in China, and to promoting the
UK as a favoured destination for Chinese students going overseas.
These are a particularly effective means of improving Britain's
image among young people and of developing long term influence.
China/Hong Kong is one of the seven largest markets in the Council's
campaign to attract more overseas students to the UK. The target
is 20,000 Chinese students (excluding those from Hong Kong) in
the UK by 2002-03 (from 4,500 in 1998). There is a Memorandum
of Understanding between the Higher Education Steering Group and
the Chinese Ministry of Education which sets out agreed areas
of collaboration in education. A formal Education Agreement is
expected to be signed later in the year by The Chinese Minister
of Education and the Secretary of State for Education and Employment.
52. The Council is also involved in developing
and managing a number of programmes relating to China's economic
and social reform agenda. These programmes are focussed on areas
such as the promotion of human rights, sustainable development,
education, and good governance. They help show Britain's commitment
to working as a partner with China in tackling key issues of reform.
53. The British Council will submit a separate
memorandum on its work in China.
Science and Technology Links
54. A formal Science and Technology Agreement
between the UK and Chinese Governments was signed in 1978. This
includes a Science and Technology protocol which sets out, but
does not bind either side to, a list of priority areas for co-operation.
This Protocol was updated during the visit of the Minister for
Science to China in September 1998. Since then, formal Science
and Technology Joint Commission talks have been constituted, with
the first event taking place in London in December 1999. Closer
links have been established between the Ministry of Science and
Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Science
Foundation of China on the one hand and relevant UK bodies on
the other. In order to boost the forming of links between UK and
Chinese researchers, a three-year science and technology fund
has been established, funded by the two governments, to support
joint Science and Technology activity. Future activity in the
fields of clean coal technology, cleaner vehicles and biotechnology
is currently under discussion.
55. Contacts between China and the Royal
Society date back to 1959 and have been expanded by a series of
agreements and MOUs to facilitate a two-way flow of postdoctoral
scientists. Today the Society's UK-China Exchange Programme involves
over 400 visits a year to and from China. The 1999/2000 budget
for this programme was over £1.1 million.
Economic and Financial Links
56. HM Treasury and the Chinese Ministry
of Finance hold a regular Financial Dialogue which covers both
domestic macroeconomic and microeconomic policies, and international
economic and financial issues. The first round took place in London
in November 1998, and the next will take place in Beijing in July
this year.
57. British Trade International and the
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation hold
a regular Joint Economic Commission, the last session of which
took place during the visit of the Chinese Minister for Foreign
Trade and Economic Co-operation in October 1999.
58. DFID runs a Financial Sector Training
Scheme which will offer work placements in the UK for 25 Chinese
financial professionals over the next three years.
59. British Trade International funded a
three-week training course in October 1999 for senior regulators
from the People's Bank of China and from Chinese securities and
insurance regulatory bodies. British Trade International also
supports the BOND Scheme which enables young professionals from
overseas to come for industrial placements with UK companies.
China is one of the key target markets.
60. The Hands-on Training Scheme (HOTS),
which is up to 50 per cent funded by British Trade International,
is designed to help British companies to bring decision makers
to the UK to undergo training and familiarisation with a view
to promoting the sale of British products in the future.
61. The China Britain Industrial Consortium
(CBIC) Initiative, another scheme supported by British Trade International,
has enabled 16 of the UK's biggest companies to gain an increased
presence in the Chinese market by training up to 1,000 Chinese
managers from State Owned Enterprises.
The BBC World Service
62. The FCO provides funding through grant-in-aid
for the BBC World Service. The BBC World Service broadcasts to
China in Mandarin for 6½ hours daily on short wave. World
Services broadcasts are now available on the internet in English,
Mandarin and Cantonese for 24 hours per day. The audience reach
in China for World Service radio broadcasts in Mandarin and English
is in excess of 3 million listeners per week. However, the World
Service have been experiencing a problem with the jamming of their
services by the Chinese authorities. The BBC World Service will
be submitting a separate memorandum on their services to China.
The Great Britain China Centre (GBCC)
63. The GBCC, a Non-Departmental Public
Body which in the financial year 1999/2000 received a grant-in-aid
of £275,000 from the GCO, also plays an important part in
promoting understanding in China of British policies, practices,
culture and institutions and in building up long-term contacts
between decision-makers in the two countries. In particular the
GBCC runs an exchange programme which aims to provide British
experience and expertise to help China address the social, political
and economic implications of its modernisation programme and focuses
on legal and judicial reform. The Centre will be submitting a
separate memorandum to the Committee.
UK/China Forum
64. The establishment of the UK/China Forum
was announced by the Prime Minister and Premier Zhu Rongji during
the Prime Minister's trip to China in October 1998. The Chairman
on the UK side is the Rt Hon Michael Heseltine CH MP, and on the
Chinese side, Dr Song Jian. The Secretariat, provided last year
by Chatham House, is now provided by the Great Britain China Centre.
The first meeting of the Forum took place in October 1999 during
the State Visit of President Jiang Zemin. The Forum is a non-governmental
institution, but enjoys governmental support. Its function is
to develop an improved network of high-level personal contacts
between Britain and China, and to develop initiatives to build
stronger UK/China links in the specific areas covered by its seven
sub-committees: Environment, Media, Culture, Education, Industry,
Finance and Law. The next meeting of the Forum will be held in
China in October this year.
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