Forgotten anniversary of Sino-British ties

Britain and the People's Republic of China established full diplomatic relations on March 13, 1972. Britain had recognized the PRC on Jan 6, 1950, soon after its founding. But for more than two decades thereafter, the relationship was only at the charge d'affaires interim level. That meant that both countries had diplomatic representation in each other's capital, but no representation at ambassador level.

John Addis was sent a bit later in the year to be Britain's first full plenipotentiary to China, while Song Zhiguang was sent from East Germany to represent China in London. The two countries, therefore, entered into a more normalized relationship.

March 2022 would have been a good time to mark the half century of this important change. But while some attention was paid to the half century since then US president Richard Nixon's visit to China, very little notice was paid to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-British diplomatic relations. At the time, there were many other distractions. Even so, it is a pity that more wasn't made of this milestone.

Over the last half a year, I have been working on a comprehensive history of Britain's relations with China, and dates like the one described above have come to matter more to me. I did not know, for instance, that Queen Elizabeth I wrote at least three letters to Chinese Emperor Wanli at the end of the 16th century, expressing eagerness to trade with the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) administration. Alas, none of the letters got there, though one of them was handed over to the archives in Beijing in 1986 when the Tudor queen's descendent, her namesake Queen Elizabeth II, became the first ever British monarch to visit China.

Nor did I know that the first British national recorded to have physically met a Chinese emperor was John Bell, a Scottish traveler who was part of a Russian delegation which was granted an audience by Emperor Kangxi in 1720. The leader impressed Bell. His successor, Emperor Qianlong, was of course the person who hosted George Macartney during the famous 1793 mission from Britain to China, one that enjoys a high status and attracts interest and controversy to this day.

Books in the Chinese language did make it, probably via Dutch or Portuguese merchants or Jesuit missionaries, to the Bodleian Library. Shen Fu-tsong is the first recorded person from China to have physically reached Britain, helping scholars at Oxford understand and start to try to interpret this "strange language" they were seeing for the first time around 1685. But it was to be another seven decades before a British national was recorded as having learned Chinese — the merchant James Flint.

Britain's relations with China over the next more than 200 years have been complex, though both countries have had an impact on each other. This history is an important and multifaceted one. Through tea, gardening design, silk and architectural designs, ideas and innovations from China had a huge influence on how life developed in Britain. And it was mainly through Britain that modern technologies made some of their initial appearances in China — at least till the 20th century.

Young Chinese certainly do know about some elements of this history, at least from the Chinese perspective. But in Britain, it has struck me more and more how, if anyone studies the past, they are going to be more interested either in Europe or the United Sates. Only a few would know much about Britain's long links with China over the last four centuries or so.

British politicians, in particular, often speak as though the two countries have only just discovered each other. In fact, even a cursory look in a decent library or online will show a massive amount of material testifying to the Sino-British links and how extensive and deep they are.

Little was done to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, but at least later this year, the British Library will be holding an important exhibition recording the history of Chinese people in Britain, and their contribution. That will be an opportunity to think once more about the meaning of this link, and what sense modern British people could make of it.

As we move into what seems like an ever more complex and troubling world, knowing about some of the events from the past, and seeking to learn from them, might give us one of the better navigation tools available.

The simple fact is that Britain and China have a long and deep history, despite their geographical remoteness from each other. And it would be better to know about this and seek to understand it, rather than either pretend it doesn't exist or ignore it even when one knows it does.

The author is a professor of Chinese studies at, and director of, the Lau China Institute at King's College, London, who is currently working on a comprehensive history of Britain's relations with China since the 16th century.

he views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.