As you may know, 200 years ago there were two most powerful states in the world: one wasChinaand the other one wasBritain.Chinawas a typical eastern country andBritainwas a typical western country. So, you can imagine how important their relations were for them and the whole world.

The first official diplomatic contact took place about 200 hundred years ago. Unfortunately, their first diplomatic contact was not successful. In the end of eighteenth century, the Qing Dynasty had reached its peak, while the British were in the Industrial Revolution. It was at that moment in history when both countries had their first diplomatic contact. In 1792,Britainsent the first mission lead byLord George MacartneytoChinafor the celebration of the Emperor Qian Long’s 82nd birthday. In fact the purpose was the establishment of trading relationship betweenBritainandChina. In order to be able to meet the Emperor Qian Long, everyone had to kneel down three times and ‘kowtou’ nine times in front of the Emperor. ‘Kowtou’ meant to touch the floor with your forehead, which was a traditional custom for a Chinese senior officer if he paid a formal visit to the Emperor.Lord George Macartneywas asked to do something like this, but he refused to follow this custom and greeted the Emperor Qian Long in the British way, just by kneeling down on one knee on the floor. This made the Emperor Qian Long a little bit unhappy. Despite being able to meet the Emperor Qian Long,the Macartney mission’strading requests between the two countries was declined by Qian Long. After that, a letter was sent from the Emperor Qian Long to the British King George III. Qian Long said in his letter something like this: “I don’t need any trading relations with you because I have every kind of goods I want.” In a word, due to the Emperor Qian Long’s stupid policy, namely closing the door, the first diplomatic contact between the two countries was not successful.

The Second encounter took place about 50 years later. In 1840, the Opium War broke out betweenBritainandChina. This was the first time in history forChinato face an invasion coming from a western country. Two years later, both countries agreed to sign a treaty inNanjing. However, it was an unbalanced treaty and unfavourable to China, as Hong Kong Island was given to the British and permission was granted for five cities to act as trading ports for Britain, as well as a payment for the war fees. Less than twenty years later, another war broke out again, known as the Second Opium war, where Britain was allied with France and together set a famous Palace, the Yuanmingyuan, on fire. This infamous event was deeply criticized by the famous French writer Victor Hugo in one of his public articles. Afterwards, the Beijing Treaty was agreed on both sides. In this treaty, the southernpeninsulaofJiulong(Kowloon) was given to the British. In the year of 1898, the third unfair treaty was made betweenBritainandChina. In this treaty Xinjie (New District) was governed by the British authoritiesHong Kongfor 99 years. In brief, during the late Qing Dynasty,Chinastayed under a bad condition in the relations withBritain.

On the other hand, in spite of disadvantages, the relations with Britain brought advantages to China, which resulted in China beginning its modern history, being open to the world, and making it possible for Chinese people to broaden their horizons outwards. More and more Chinese people came toBritainand learnt from British people. Guo Song-tao, the first ambassador of the Qing Dynasty, recommended and introduced the Parliamentary system to the Chinese for the first time. Yan Fu studied modern naval technology inBritainand translatedDarwin’s Evolution theory and Adam Smith’s famous economic book The Wealth of nations, which changed Chinese minds a lot. Sun Yi-sheng, the father of the republic of china and Guomingdang party, his revolutionary activities got lots of aid from British people, and it was inLondonthat he became a famous revolutionary well-known in the world. After 1912, the relations betweenChinaandBritainimproved a lot. Especially, during the Second World War, the Chinese people and the British people, standing shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, defeated Japanese Fascism and won the war together. After that,BritainandChinaat the same time became summit member states of the UN Security Council.

Since the establishment of P. R. China, the relationship between both countries has made headway and has been getting better and better. In 1950, theUKgovernment recognized the People’s Republic ofChina. In 1954, the two sides reached an agreement to develop their diplomatic relations. In 1972, the two sides signed the Agreement on the Exchange of Ambassadors. In 1982, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made her first visit toChina. In 1984, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made her second visit toChina, during which the two governments signed The Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, which made a perfect solution on historical issues. She quoted an ancient Chinese poem written by Wang Bo in the Tang Dynasty to describe the relations betweenBritainandChina: “For those who are close friends, they seem to be good neighbours although they live far away.” And now, the relationship betweenChinaandBritainis “at its best” in history, according to Sir Christopher Hum, the British Ambassador toChina.

In conclusion, due to different cultural traditions, backgrounds and different social systems, there were some misunderstanding, wrangles and conflicts, even wars, betweenChinaandBritainin history, but the mainstream of the relations between both sides gets better and better when the two countries communicate increasingly with each other. Now thatBritainis a typical developed country andChinais a typical developing country, the same mutual benefit makes it necessary for both counties to develop a global partnership. According to Sir Christopher Hum, our strategic partnership will deepen as we jointly face the challenges of an interdependent world. So, I am sure that the relations between both sides will widen much more because it is helpful not only to both countries’ peoples but also to all the people of the world.

From 《Spectrum》, Spring 2006 Edition (University of Westminster, UK )