In a multipolar world, should the West be strong enough to defend our values or strong enough to live up to our values? — The Guardian on 16th July 2022 published a PA Media article[1] on Tony Blair’s delivery of the 58th Ditchley Foundation Annual lecture. The title of his lecture was “After Ukraine, What Lessons Now for Western Leadership?” and his focus was on China[2]. “The biggest geopolitical change of this century will…

A Commentary on the Judgement — The London Uyghur Tribunal was set up to examine evidence and determine whether China’s human rights abuses against the Uyghurs amount to genocide under the Genocide Convention. …

Chapter Two in “The Rise of China: Fresh Insights and Observations — a collection of essays”, published in 2021. Chapter 2 reprinted with permission from Paddy Ashdown Forum, ISBN-10: ‎1399905244 and ISBN-13: ‎978–1399905244. Compared to the book, there are changes to formatting to highlight certain paragraphs and texts . The…

Who are you that called to me 8000 miles across a continent? Matter-of-fact eyes beneath thick bushy eyebrows. A hint of a smile in an austere, hard face. I wished my heart would stop beating so painfully. My hands felt cold and clammy. The creaks of belts and wheels; the…

Chinese Community Centre — Birmingham (Adapted from speech given on 15 February 2022) — Some of you may be wondering why the President of England China Business Forum (ECBF) is giving his speech dressed casually in a hoodie. The reason is because I am undergoing chemotherapy for terminal pancreatic cancer and I have to carry a pump over 48 hours, every 2 weeks, that…

It was cold, freezing cold. Stepping out of the train at Central Station, Amsterdam, I glanced at the time. Not too clever, not too clever at all, arriving in Amsterdam at midnight in the middle of January. I followed the few passengers that alighted with me as they hurry away…

(Reflections after spending some time working in the Northern Cape, South Africa. See footnote for context.) Stone Thrower The crowd hushed when out of the shimmering haze the first armoured car appeared. You flexed your arm. The crowd waited. Your anger coiled in your palm. You hurled your stone. Gunfire scattered the…

(A story written in 1996. See footnote for historical context and relevance today) — Just before his ninth birthday Aun Thang’s father took him to visit the Hilltop Buddha. They left one afternoon, heading towards the mountains to the west of their village. By nightfall they reached the foothills and made camp beside a river. Aun Thang was excited. He thought he would never…

(Based on speech given on 31st January 2020 at the National Liberal Club Chinese New Year Dinner) 10 years ago, I had the honour of sitting beside Paddy Ashdown during a dinner function. When I asked him what liberal democracy is, he answered in 3 words ‘Liberty, Fairness, Tolerance’. In…