An open letter from representatives of Chinese professionals in the UK to G7 leaders
Dear Sirs and Madam,

We are a collective of professionals of Chinese ethnic origin residing in the United Kingdom. We wish to express the community’s hope that leaders at the 2021 G7 will take all necessary step to defuse the current hostility towards China and the Chinese people. Many of us had lived experience in China, and extensive relationships with the country and people. We implore the leaders of the G7 to regard China as a friend and not as an enemy.
We are glad that the Covid-19 pandemic is the main agenda for the 2021 G7 conference. However, we are anxious that this forum should not be abused as a platform to propagate anti-China covid-19 related myths. As the 7 April, 2020 Nature publication rightly warned, “continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop. As infectious disease epidemiologist Adam Kucharski reminds us in his timely book The Rules of Contagion: history tells us that pandemics lead to communities being stigmatised, which is why we all need to exercise more care.
The international rule-based system has designated the WHO as the competent body to deal with such a pandemic. Hence, all political accusations about the virus that is not science-based are unhelpful and a distraction to making the world safe from the pandemic.
A member of this collective, Dr Michael Ng, a community leader and a university professor in the U.K., is involved in combating pandemic related hate crimes against the Chinese community. He wishes to remind the G7 that any attempt to politicise the Covid-19 issue against China would fan the flame of hate crimes against the community. That would undo all the excellent efforts of the local councils, civic groups, police force and community leaders who had helped defuse the spread of hate crimes.
Dr Ping Hua, a research scientist, is concerned that the rise of hate crimes and daily demonising of China has created such a hostile environment for Chinese scientists that could stymie the scientific and intellectual exchanges between the West and the world’s fastest-growing economy.
We note with concern the United States anxiety over the economic rise of China. China’s per capita is only one-fifth of the United States, with only one military base abroad compared to 800 of the United States. She is not a threat to the West. China’s rise is complementary to Western interests. A more prosperous China could only benefit the working people in the West through higher demands for western goods and services. Treating China’s rise as a threat to the United States or the West is based on fiction.
China is not a utopia, but it is undoubtedly not a dystopia as Western critics and media visualise. The Chinese people are aware of the ideological differences between the West and China. Yet over 90% supports the government in Beijing. This is the finding from a 13-year long survey carried out by the Ash Center of Harvard University. They found that the majority of the population surveyed feels that today is better than yesterday. They expect tomorrow to be better than today. The millions of Chinese who voted with their feet to return home after their travel and studies in the West corroborates with the Ash Center findings.
China’s governance is different from the West. That does not necessarily mean that the Communist Party of China can defy the wishes of its citizen. This is the conclusion of the Survey. According to Edward Cunningham, who co-authored the research from 2003-2016, “CCP isn’t immune to shift public opinion, especially in areas like corruption, environmental degradation, health, and overall standards of living.”
When considering whether China is a friend and partner, or enemy, G7 should consider the independent findings of the Ash Center.
We are concerned that current hostilities towards China in the West are manufactured and ratcheted up in the United States to serve the interest of the military-industrial complex and the electoral needs of both the Democrats and the Republicans.
The alleged genocide in Xinjiang and the threat of invasion of Taiwan are the two most important examples.
On Genocide in Xinjiang
We believe that the claim of genocide in Xinjiang is untenable as the Uighur population has increased from 5 million to 13 million since the 1950s. If China does enslave a million Uighurs, the CIA enhanced aerial surveillance technology could easily prove the allegation with video images of prisoners in the yards. They have not done so.
Critics of China have studiously ignored a World Bank statement of the 11 November 2019 that dealt with the allegation that skills and learning institutions associated with the Bank were de facto prisons. “In line with standard practice, immediately after receiving a series of serious allegations in August 2019 in connection with the Xinjiang Technical and Vocational Education and Training Project, the Bank launched a fact-finding review, and World Bank senior managers travelled to Xinjiang to gather information directly… The review did not substantiate the allegations.”
Mr Bitu Bhalla, a member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn and International Arbitrator, and Mr Wah-Piow Tan, a Balliol-educated Human Rights solicitor, were unimpressed by the various legal opinions supporting the claim of genocide against China. “China and the World Bank’s $100 million education and training program in Xinjiang,” they observed, “is cast-iron evidence that China has no specific intention to kill a part or whole of the Uighur population. Without specific intention, there cannot be any genocide.” What genocide regime would spend $100 million to educate and train the people you plan to kill?” They are also disappointed that the issues of proportionality were not adequately addressed, or addressed at all by those Barristers criticising China’s response to the threats of terrorism.
“Unlike Britain or the United States, China confronts an Al-Qaeda and ISIS-inspired insurgency seeking to establish an Islamic Caliphate in Xinjiang and Central Asia. Even the Indian government, an ally of the West, has argued for the suspension of human rights when fighting terrorism,” said Tan.
On China threat to Taiwan
According to the Economist, Taiwan has become the most dangerous place globally because of the risk of military conflict between the United States and China. There is enough nuclear arsenal between them to destroy the planet.
What the United States perceives as China’s threat to Taiwan is viewed differently by the Chinese people. At an International Affairs Fellowship forum, a U.S. think tank, a panellist reported that 100% of overseas Chinese students in the United States considered Taiwan a province of China. “The possible validity of Chinese claims” over Taiwan, remarked historian Max Hastings in a recent opinion piece in Bloomberg, was not even considered by the China experts advising the American administration. Max Hastings had raised a valid question. The overwhelming majority of countries worldwide recognise the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate government of China and pursue the one-China policy. This is de facto recognition of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan. To China, it is an unfinished reunification process.
The United States has its own hidden agenda to embolden the Taiwanese separatists, in the same vein as encouraging Uighur or Hong Kong separatists. We hope the G7 should advise the United States to refrain from redefining its one-China policy, thereby destroying any likelihood of an amicable arrangement for reunification.
The impending war
We are particularly concerned that Britain’s aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth II, the third-largest globally, is speeding towards Taiwan to flex its muscles at China. Instead of supporting the hawkish approach of the United States towards China, the G7 should review the futilities of wars launched since the 2001 9/11 attack. The wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Libya had caused 800,000 deaths, displaced 21 million people, wasted $6.4 trillion. These wars created failed states, not democracies.
The current propaganda war complementing the military adventures against China are efforts to retain the United States hegemony. The flawed policy has more dire consequences than those of the last two decades. The G7 should review the previous 20 years of war launched by the U.S before contemplating to support Biden’s military-led Indo Pacific Tilt, which is the code word for China-bashing in the South China Seas area.
The stakes are so high that the advice of Bruce Kent, the veteran peace campaigner, ought to be taken seriously: “we can learn to live harmoniously as neighbours… we have to learn to live as partners.”*
Tan Wah Piow (Universal Common Sense)
On behalf of the Collective of Chinese Professionals
Tan Wah Piow –Balliol-educated Human Rights solicitor, practising in London. Director Universal Common Sense
                                  -----------中文版-----------
英国华裔专业人士代表给G7国家领导人的一封公开信
2021年六月九日 -伦敦
亲爱的女士们和先生们
我们是居住在英国的一群华裔专业人士。我们希望表达社区民意，恳请2021年七国集团领导人采取一切必要步骤，化解目前对中国和中国人民的敌意。我们中的许多人在中国生活过，与中国和中国人民有着广泛的联系。我们请七国集团领导人视中国为朋友，而不是敌人。
我们感到高兴的是COVID-19疫情是2021年七国集团会议的主要议程。然而，我们急切希望，这个论坛不会被滥用为传播反华神话的平台。正如2020年4月7日《自然》杂志恰当地警告那样，”继续将病毒及其引发的疾病与特定地点关联是不负责任的，必须停止。如传染病及流行病学家亚当·库查斯基（Adam Kucharski）在他适时的著作《传染的规则：历史告诉我们，流行病导致社区被污名化》一书中提醒我们的那样，这就是为什么我们都需要多加小心。
基于国际规则的体系已指定世卫组织为处理这种流行病的权威机构。因此，所有关于病毒的不以科学为基础的的政治指控不仅是无益的，而且分散了世界应对大流行的精力。
我们中一员，黄蒿钧博士 ，社区侨领和大学教授，参与了打击针对华人社区的与大流行有关的仇恨犯罪的活动。他想提醒七国集团，任何将COVID-19问题政治化的企图都将煽动针对华人社区的仇恨犯罪的火焰，使得地方议会、民间团体、警察和社区领导人为化解仇恨犯罪做出的所有出色的努力都化为乌有。
华萍博士是一位科研人员，她担心仇恨犯罪的抬头和对中国的日益妖魔化，给中国科学家制造了这般敌对的环境，可能会阻碍西方与世界增长速度最快的经济体之间的科研和学术交流。
我们关切地注意到美国对于中国经济崛起的焦虑情绪。中国的人均国内生产总值只有美国的五分之一，也只有一个海外军事基地，而相比美国则有800个。中国不是西方的威胁。中国的崛起与西方的利益是互补的。一个更加繁荣的中国，会对西方的商品和服务有更高的需求，这只会对西方劳动人民有益。把中国的崛起视作对美国或西方的威胁是基于虚构。
中国不是一个乌托邦，但毫无疑问不是西方批评家和媒体想象中的反乌托邦。中国人民了解西方和中国之间的意识形态差异。然而，超过90%的中国人支持北京政府。这是从哈佛大学阿什中心（Ash Center）进行的一项长达13年的调查中得出的结论。他们发现大多数被调查者认为今天比昨天好。他们预计明天会比今天更好。数百万中国亲爱的女士们和先生们人在西方旅行和学习后选择回国也证实了阿什中心的结论。
中国的施政与西方不同。这并不一定意味着中国共产党可以违抗其公民的意愿。这是调查得出的结论。爱德华·坎宁安（Edward Cunningham）从2003年至2016年共同撰写了这项研究报告。据他说，”中共也不能幸免于公众舆论的转变，尤其是在腐败、环境恶化、健康和整体生活水平等领域。”
在考虑中国是朋友，伙伴，还是敌人时，七国集团应该考虑阿什中心的独立调查结果。
我们感到担忧的是，目前西方对中国的敌对行动是美国制造和加剧的，以满足合军工综合体的利益以及民主党和共和党的选举需要。
所谓的新疆种族灭绝和入侵台湾的威胁是两个最重要的例子。
关于新疆种族灭绝
我们坚信，所谓新疆的种族灭绝指控是站不住脚的，因为自50年代以来，维吾尔族人口从500万增加到了1300万。如果中国真的奴役了一百万维吾尔族人，中情局强大的空中监视技术可以很容易地拍到囚犯在院子里的视频图像来证明这一指控。他们没有这样做。
中国的批评家们刻意无视世界银行于2019年11月11日发表的一项对于与世行有关的技术培训学校实际是监狱这一指控的声明。”按照标准做法，世界银行在2019年8月收到一系列与新疆技术职业教育和培训项目有关的严重指控后，立即展开了实况调查，世行高级管理人员前往新疆直接收集信息…审查没有证实这些指控。”
格雷律师学院荣誉协会成员，国际仲裁员比图·巴拉先生（Bitu Bhalla）和受过牛津大学巴利奥尔学院教育的人权律师陈华彪先生对支持指控中国犯下种族灭绝罪的各种法律意见嗤之以鼻。他们注意到：”中国和世界银行在新疆的1亿美元教育和培训项目，是”中国没有特定意图杀害部分或全部维吾尔族人口的铁腕证据。没有特定的意图，就不可能有任何种族灭绝。哪个要种族灭绝的政权会花费1亿美元来教育和训练你打算杀害的人？他们还感到失望的是，那些批评中国应对恐怖主义威胁的大律师没有充分论述甚至根本只字未提相称性问题（指恐怖主义的威胁和反恐手段的相称性-译者注）。
“与英国或美国不同，中国面临着基地组织和ISIS煽动暴乱以试图在新疆和中亚建立伊斯兰哈里发的问题。就连作为西方盟友的印度政府也主张在打击恐怖主义时暂莫谈人权，” 陈律师说。
关于中国大陆对台湾的威胁
据《经济学人》报道，由于美中两国发生军事冲突的风险，台湾已成为全球最危险的地方。两国之间有足够的核武库来摧毁地球。
美国认为的中国对台湾的威胁，在中国人民看来是不同的。在美国智库国际事务联谊会论坛上，一位小组成员报告说，100%的在美中国留学生认为台湾是中国的一个省。历史学家马克斯·哈斯廷斯（Max Hastings）最近在彭博社的一篇评论文章中指出，中国对台主张的”可能的有效性”，甚至没有被为美国政府提供建议的中国专家们所考虑。马克斯·哈斯廷斯提出了一个有价值的问题。世界上绝大多数国家都承认中华人民共和国是中国的合法政府，奉行一个中国政策。这是事实上承认中国对台湾的主权。对中国来说，这是一个未完成的统一进程。
美国藏匿着自己的议程，就是鼓动台湾分裂分子，就像鼓动维吾尔族或香港分离主义分子一样。我们希望七国集团奉劝美国不要重新定义其一个中国政策，而破坏任何为统一而做出友好安排的可能性。
即将发生的战争
我们尤其关切的是，全球第三大航空母舰”伊丽莎白二世女王号”正驶向台湾，向中国秀实力。七国集团不应支持美国对中国的鹰派态度，而应重新审视自2001年9/11恐怖袭击以来发动的徒劳的战争。阿富汗、叙利亚、伊拉克和利比亚的战争已造成80万人死亡，2100万人流离失所，浪费了6.4万亿美元。这些战争制造了失败的国家，而不是民主国家。
当前与针对中国的军事冒险相辅相成的宣传战是为试图保持美国的霸权所作的努力。与过去20年相比，现在有缺陷的政策会产生更可怕的后果。七国集团应该先回顾一下美国过去20年发动的战争，再考虑支持拜登的军事主导的印太倾斜策略——这就是在中国南海对抗中国的代名词。
危险如此严峻，资深和平活动家布鲁斯•肯特（Bruce Kent）的建议应该受到严肃对待：”我们可以学会像邻居一样和谐相处……我们必须学会作为合作伙伴生活。
陈华彪 (常理创办人)
华人职业人士群体代表
陈华彪是牛津大学巴里奥尔学院毕业的人权律师，从业于伦敦地区。常理主席。
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