A cavalry troop passes The Mall near Buckingham Palace on Monday. President Xi Jinping is scheduled to officially start his state visit to the United Kingdom on Tuesday. [Photo: Chinadaily/Wu Zhiyi] The United Kingdom is right in its bold new approach to developing closer ties with China, according to a leading historian. Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard University and author of the recently published Kissinger: 1923-1968 The Idealist, said he believed President Xi Jinping"s visit to the UK would be important in cementing closer ties. "I think it is a brave move by the British government at a time when Washington is distinctly hesitant and ambivalent about the rise of China as a superpower, but I think it is the correct decision," he said. "This is a very different world from that of the Cold War. Anyone who thinks there can be containment of China does not understand the first thing about the realities of the early 21st century. China is a key player in all the debates of our time－from economic growth and cybersecurity to climate change－and I think the UK is right to seek good relations with Beijing." UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne prepared the ground for Xi"s trip when he visited China in September, when a number of projects were announced, including a 1.8 billion pound ($2.8 billion) investment in Hinkley Point nuclear power station. During his visit, Xi is likely to signal that London will be the major global offshore center for the Chinese currency. He will also announce infrastructure investment in the so-called Northern Powerhouse, a strategy to revitalize the north of England. For Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, the second edition of which is about to be published in China, the announcement in March that the UK would become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank set the course for the new relationship. He said he believed it was one of the most important signals in UK foreign policy since World War II. "When (British Prime Minister David) Cameron went to Beijing in late 2013 and said that Britain can be China"s best friend, it seemed like hyperbole. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announcement was the key moment of delivery. It was the most extraordinary event. There was no precedent for a non-Asian country joining." Jacques said he believed Britain was signaling to the United States that this was the beginning of a new world financial order that was not just based on the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement, which led to the setting up of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Rana Mitter, director of the Dickson Poon China Centre at Oxford University and author of China"s War With Japan, 1937-45: The Struggle for Survival, said he believes that if Xi"s visit heralds a new era of cooperation between the UK and China, it will not be for the first time. "Yes, of course, 150 years ago, the Opium Wars were a historical disgrace, but I think it is worth remembering that a century later the two sides were allies during World War II." Kerry Brown, director of the China Studies Centre at Sydney University and associate fellow on the Asia program at foreign policy think tank Chatham House, hopes Xi"s visit will herald a change of thinking about China in the UK. "It would be good to see this visit contribute to creating a more creative and imaginative relationship, and a wider public interest in the role of China in the UK, embracing not just economic but also cultural understanding and engagement," Brown said. |
