British views of China

Joseph Lee, a lecturer at the University of Nottingham Business School, is quite optimistic about the public perception of China. "I think to a certain extent that the British are happy about the economic rise of China. They don't view that as a threat."

He says China's rise has given both sides an opportunity to cultivate their friendship. "I think people welcome China's economic rise because it allows the British people to go to the country and they also see it as a positive gesture of the Chinese government to open not only their economic market, but also their country. It also allows the Chinese people to come to the UK to visit, to understand the culture and to pursue their education."

Limited views

Professor Andrew Marton of Nottingham University has been based in Qingbo, China for the past three years. His stay there has given him a deeper perspective of China and what it means to the UK. He suggests the views of the general public in Britain are not in most cases as broad as a that of a person living abroad.

He says they are probably more focused on economic issues like trade imbalances and European tariffs on trade. He says people think "China makes a lot of goods that are exported all over the world. The public is probably framing their views more around topics such as quality." Marton mentions trade issues relating to Chinese-made shoes that recently circulated in the European media.

Human rights

There are a number of other issues highlighted in the media. There certainly is talk of Chinese human rights issues in Great Britain. Amnesty International, the British-born human rights watchdog, posts new pleas, or issues calls for urgent action and condemns human rights abuses cases in China almost daily.

Among them was a case that hit closer to home for the British population. Public opinion in the UK was outraged when in December last year a British national, Akmal Shaikh, was put to death in Urumqi (Xinjiang) after being found guilty of smuggling four kilos of heroin - despite a record of mental illness. It was the first execution of a European citizen in China in 50 years. China's judiciary system refused to hear numerous pleas and petitions made by doctors, officials, Akmal Shaikh's family and the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. But not too long after, the range of media coverage returned to normal, focussing mainly on economic issues.

Military rival?

In the United States, the UK's close ally, there is concern about China's growth in the military sector. But Professor Marton says most Brits don't seem to share these concerns and that if anything, China's military growth seems inevitable after such dramatic economic growth.

He says that any perceived threat would only pertain to the region, for instance to Taiwan, but "I certainly don't feel anyone in the UK would feel that UK territory is under threat in terms of military threat."

Joseph Lee again points out that people's views are shaped by what they read and hear in the media. "Within the media I don't think there is extensive talk of China's military rise. The British people are not overly concerned with the issue of a military power." He says instead, the British public seems to concentrate on matters they can influence. "They concentrate more on how we, the British people, can use trade relations and other elements of soft power to influence Chinese civil society and hopefully they will become a more responsible global player in terms of economic and military power."

Author: Sarah Berning
Editor: Grahame Lucas