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Many Things to Learn from Beijing Interview with British Ambassador to China Sir William Ehrman

Beijing 2008: What do you think of the Olympic links between Beijing and London?

Sir William Ehrman: I think there are already very good links between London and Beijing for the Olympics. We have had a number of senior officials who visited China and have taken part in various events connected with the Olympics.

In 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair took part in an athletics master class with Liu Xiang and the then-British world record holder Colin Jackson. And he also took part in a football class with Chinese students.

Shortly after Mr. Blair visited, the British member of the IOC, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, met young divers and gymnasts and members of the Chinese Olympic equestrian team.

In 2006 there have also been a number of senior British visitors who have visited and had contact with senior Chinese authorities on the Olympics. All of these visits promote awareness of the Beijing Olympics and we have also been learning from Beijing’s preparations for the Olympics.

I would like to mention three other events that are promoting China in Britain. First of all, in 2006 there was “China in London.” It was opened by Chinese pop star Super Girl Li Yuchun and supported by London Mayor Ken Livingstone. It was a series of exhibitions, performances, films, street decorations and food tastings, and an extremely successful event in London at the beginning of 2006. This will now be an annual event.

Secondly, there is going to be a big festival in Britain in the first part of 2008 called “China Now”, and this will present all of the best of contemporary China. It will be held in London, in Liverpool, in Manchester, and in Scotland.

Thirdly, Britain will participate in the hosting of cultural events here in China in the run-up to the Games with many British groups coming, and there also will be exhibitions from British museums. So there will be many things promoting awareness of China and of the Beijing Olympic Games.

What do you think of the various activities held in China in the run-up to the Olympics?

We very much welcome and support the targets which Beijing has set itself.

Beijing wishes to hold a 'High-Tech Olympics' and we have noticed that Beijing is improving its public transport and is equipping itself with the latest construction, broadcasting and communications technology necessary to hold this very demanding event.

Secondly, Beijing wants to hold a 'People’s Olympics' and we very much admire the organization of school education and voluntary programmes you are undertaking. And we noticed the range of cultural events which will expand the consciousness of the Olympics across society.

You also have a target to hold a 'Green Olympics' and are implementing a whole range of green initiatives such as solar-energy lighting and water saving. We are very interested in all these initiatives and we will be studying them and want to learn from them for London in 2012.

We also are very pleased at the decision to ensure open reporting by foreign media reporters during the Olympic Games. This was confirmed in the new rules for foreign journalists in China announced on December 1, 2006. Since then it has been stated there is no reason why these rules should not continue after the Olympic Games. We welcome that.

We are very pleased that the work of British companies and organisations is already helping the Olympic dream into reality. One of Britain’s major engineering firms, Arup, is working on the construction of the Bird’s Nest stadium. A British architecture firm, Foster and Partners, is the designer of the new Terminal Three at Beijing airport. And again the British engineering design firm Arup is also involved in that work.

I have already mentioned that there are many cultural events taking place like “China Now” in Britain, and Britain's participation in the Chinese cultural Olympiad in the run-up to the Olympic Games. One other event I would also like to mention is that at the end of the Games in 2008, a large sailing ship called FriendShip will leave China and go on a four-year journey around the world. The ship will stop at many places to spread the Olympic message before arriving in London in 2012.

What are your suggestions for Beijing to host a unique and superior Games?

I think there will be many things that we want to study. We will certainly want to study how you prepare the Games specifically in terms of the buildings and the transport systems that you have prepared. But also we will learn from some of the wider issues such as the education programme, in which British schools are involved, and also the cultural events which will surround the Olympics. So there are many aspects which we want to learn from Beijing including the detailed organisation of the events themselves. Since we will be following Beijing in 2012, we will have people coming to work with the Beijing organizing committee in the run-up to the Games so that we can see at first hand how you are organizing the Games. We will want to learn from that experience as well, not only for the Olympics, but also for the Paralympics.

Talking about the education programmes, what do you think of the educational exchanges between China and UK?

We are very pleased to be involved in exchanges between model schools in Beijing and London. Teachers from a school in London visited here in 2005 to learn about the Olympic education movement. And when our deputy prime minister visited Beijing last year, he also visited a Beijing Olympic model school that is twinned with a school back in the UK. I expect there will be more such initiatives in the years ahead. More generally, the number of Chinese students in Britain is very large. There are 60,000 Chinese students studying in Britain and a large number of British students studying in China. We expect those numbers will continue to grow in the years ahead.

How will you be involved in the Olympics?

I will be working very closely with the British Olympic Association in the run-up to the Games. We have established a team within the embassy, a special Olympic team, to work on the Olympic Games, working with our British Olympic Association but also with the London organising committee. So I expect over the next 18 months I will have a lot of work to do on Olympic issues.

What do you think of the Beijing Olympic mascots and other licensed products? Have you got any mascots?

I noticed there is a lot of publicity about the Beijing mascots. For example, there was a world tour organized in August 2006. But we also believe that there is an excellent range of Olympic products which you are selling for the Olympics––coins, clothing, watches, sunglasses, stamps and more. We also welcome the importance which the organizing committee is attaching to the intellectual property rights issue also in this area.

I certainly have a number of the Olympic mascots. I have been given them on a number of occasions by the Beijing organizing committee, so I have a very fine collection.