One of the hardest things I have to do is explain my job. I work on Asia at the British Embassy in Washington DC, and “why?” is the most common question. And, particularly from Americans, “But the UK isn’t a Pacific nation, you haven’t got any skin in the game.” But the simple answer is that Asia, and the ways in which it is changing, matters a lot to everyone. As British Prime Minister David Cameron said when he visited Beijing last year “China’s rise is one of the defining facts of our lifetime.”
My job is to make sure that we are talking to our friends across the pond about the things that we—and they—are doing to co-operate with our partners in the Pacific. Today, the British Ambassador in Washington, Sir Peter Westmacott, gave a speech about China that showed that the UK is deeply engaged with China, just as the US is . He also pointed out that, contrary to what some believe, many of the UK and US’ vital concerns complement the interests of China. Sir Peter’s points about our shared interest in economic prosperity is perhaps what you would expect. But that we are also talking to China and other partners in the region about everything from care of the elderly, to Africa, to climate change and to the difficult subjects of human rights and freedom of navigation might be more of a surprise.
But it is only a surprise to those who haven’t visited today’s Asia or listened to contemporary global debates. Young people in Beijing are as switched on to the world as their western contemporaries. They have high aspirations for education, opportunity and consumption (when I visited Beijing last week the array of high end stores was incredible). They look to excellent providers not just in Asia but from across the world to meet those needs. To take a topical example, China is an essential part of the global debate on how to handle Russia’s annexation of Ukraine, with its long-term implications for international groupings and key concepts such as territorial integrity. Even out of the spotlight, the views of Asian countries matter on all of the key foreign and development policies the British government focuses on today.
There are undoubtedly challenges in how the US, UK, China and our other partners and allies work together to deliver peace and prosperity for all. As Sir Peter said, we can take Xi Jinping’s goal of “better education, more stable jobs, better income, more reliable social security, medical care of higher standard, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment” as a shared starting point. As China’s Ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, has said, “co-operation in areas where we agree helps deal with areas where we differ.” If we do this and hold to the Chinese maxim of “crossing the river by feeling the stones”, we might be on the right track.