July 2nd, 2017

(From btime.com) On June 17, 2017, at the invitation of Oxford University and other institutions, Mr. Xiao Wunan, Executive Vice Chairman of Asia Pacific Exchange & Cooperation Foundation (APECF), led a delegation to London. The delegation had extensive, comprehensive and constructive communications with British academic, educational, cultural and governmental institutions on people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Britain and other matters, reaching many consensuses.

On the morning of June 17, at the invitation of Mr. Ralph Waller, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Principal of Harris Manchester College, Mr. Xiao Wunan visited this college. They exchanged views on Sino-British relations, Brexit, the global anti-terrorism situation and other topics. Oxford University has strong academic and school resources, and can provide effective assurances for each other in the areas of research and public diplomacy. At the same time, they decided to set up a regular exchange mechanism and dialogue platform. Mr. Xiao Wunan highly approved of this. On June 18, Mr. Xiao Wunan also paid a visit to New College of University of Oxford. Mr. Miles Young, warden of New College (former worldwide Chairman and CEO of the international advertising, marketing and public relations agency Ogilvy & Mather), warmly welcomed the guests and introduced in detail the history and current situation of the New College, and accompanied the delegation to visit the whole college. During this period, Mr. Miles Young expressed great appreciation for APECF's outstanding contribution in promoting global cultural exchanges. He proposed that New College and APECF could do some forward-looking work related to exchanges between civilizations and mutual learning in different regions, different countries and different ethnic groups. For example, on the campus lawn, the two sides can hold themed cultural activities with Chinese drama as the element and combine contemporary art forms and multimedia carriers. Through these explorations, we could give full play to global resources and advantages of New College of Oxford University and combine APECF’s long-term commitment to the promotion of Chinese culture around the world to find points of innovation. At the invitation of the BBC, the APECF delegation visited its headquarter in London. Mr. Xiao Wunan had a working meeting with renowned producer Dan Kelly, with intention to cooperate on projects involving Chinese culture dissemination and related documentary production.

APECF has maintained long-term cooperation with Britain and obtained fruitful results. Mr. Xiao Wunan frequently visits Britain and maintains a good friendship with Mr. David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Ms. Arlene Forster, leader of Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, and Prince Charles. He has made great contributions to the “Golden Decade” of Sino-British relations. Meanwhile, APECF has helped to boost Britain’s unique international status and held many activities with world influence. For example, on June, 2014, APECF and the Iman Foundation co-organized and co-hosted a conference “Islamism, a Global Threat” at the Reform Club, London. Mr. Xiao Wunan presided over a panel discussion. His speech received high praise and was applauded by distinguished panelists. A number of prominent guests attended the conference, notably: Mr. Bertie Ahern, former Prime Minister of Ireland, Mr. Halldór Ásgrímsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland, and the current Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Mr. Mirko Cvetković, former Prime Minister of Serbia, Mr. Cyril Svoboda, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mr. Richard Barrett, a former British diplomat and former Head of Counter-terrorism for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Mr. Charles Tannock, British Conservative Member of the European Parliament and Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the U.K. Conservative Delegation, Mr. David Abraham, Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Edwin Shuker, Vice-President of the European Jewish Congress, among others.

In September 2015, co-sponsored and organized by Asia Pacific Exchange & Cooperation Foundation and other institutions, the event “Promote World Peace through Dialogue among Civilizations” was held at Asia House, London. Nearly 100 political, academic, cultural, religious and media personalities from more than 20 countries and regions attended this event. Representatives from different countries exchanged ideas around event theme. Many distinguished guests delivered unique points of view, such as Giannie Picco, former Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Alfred Heer, a member of the European Parliament, Mr. Emanuelis Zingeris, Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, representatives from the African Union, etc. A speech by Mr. Xiao Wunan, Executive Vice Chairman of APECF, said, “First of all, I would like to thank old and new friends for their constant participation. From another point of view, the activities of "Promote World Peace through Dialogue among Civilizations" are well organized and we will continue to do so in the future. Under the changing new world order, we hope Oriental nations will dare to take responsibility and combine the characteristics of our own and human culture to jointly create a new civilization for the future of mankind.”

APECF’s visit will play a new role in promoting the “Golden Decade” of Sino-British relations through people-to-people and cultural exchanges.