How do you explain the British political system to Chinese Government officials?
This morning, I spent four hours in a hotel in Croydon, south London, giving a presentation on the British political system to 22 senior Chinese Government officials from Beijing.
I had to explain that our political system has evolved over many centuries and is therefore particular to our history and culture. It is simply not possible to transplant one nation’s political system onto another country with a very different history and culture. They appreciated this.
The Chinese do not like to be lectured about what they should and should not do in their country and one delegate challenged the right of a Commons Select Committee to comment on the current governance arrangements in Hong Kong. I understood his point, but explained that, in our interconnected global community, people are entitled to pass comment on arrangements in other countries and China should not be so sensitive to outside comments.
I also had to explain that, because the British political system has evolved so gradually, it is not neat and it does not always make sense. For instance, I was asked if religion has any role in our constitutional arrangements and I had to say why our head of state (the monarch) is also the head of the Church of England (because King Henry VIII wanted a second wife).
Also I tried to spell out the absurdity which is the House of Lords. A second chamber in which no member is elected, in which 92 members owe their position to an hereditary honour centuries old, in which 26 bishops and archbishops of the Church of England have a seat as of right, is simply indefensible.
Of course, I had to declare that this discussion about political arrangements in the United Kingdom was taking place in a week in which Scotland might actually decide to leave the UK and that, even if they did not, there would probably be important political changes as a result [see my comments here]. This led to a discussion on current global challenges to the notion of the nation state with power going upwards to bodies like the European Union and multinational corporations and power going downwards to regions and cities.
I have given this kind of lecture to a number of Chinese groups over the years and I have noticed significant changes in their responses. They ask more questions now and are more open-minded about the need for political reform at home. This is encouraging – but the Chinese will take their own time to make changes. Understandably they will not be pushed from outside, but I’m not sure if they appreciate just how much pressure will come from inside, from the more educated and wealthier Chinese citizenry that the economic reforms of the last 30 years has created.
You can my read my guide to the British political system here.