播撒英中长期关系的种子

文/Carma Elliot (艾琳)

译/李梁

播撒英中长期关系的种子

Planting the Seeds of a Long-term Relationship Between Britain and China

文/Carma Elliot (艾琳)

译/李梁

当我在写这篇文章的时候，我担任英国文化教育协会中国区主任已满四个年头，距离我作为复旦大学的学生首次来到中国已经有33个年头了。在此期间我见证了中国真正令人惊叹的转变，而与此同时，英国文化教育协会也积极与中方合作伙伴携手促进交流，推动中国在自身发展规划的重点领域内实现可持续而互惠的转变。

本文作者英国大使馆文化教育公使、英国文化教育协会中国区主任艾琳（Carma Elliot, the Minister of Culture and Education, British Embassy; Country Director, British Council China）

人文交流创造和平、宽容和安全

英国文化教育协会经英国皇家特许成立于1947年，与110多个国家开展合作，是英国促进文化交流与提供教育机会的国际组织。我们帮助英国以及其他国家的人们增进友谊和了解，并借此建立信任，携手打造共同的未来。每年，我们通过英语教学、艺术分享以及各类教育和技能项目与数千名专业人士、决策者以及数百万青年人开展合作。我们相信，无论是在中国还是在其他地方，人文交流都会为创造更加和平、宽容和安全的世界作出有力而持久的贡献。简言之，我们将尽全力管理、宣传、推广和坚持中英人文交流，无论是在高层还是在基层，我们建立的广泛关系均将支持并推动此项工作。

2013年12月率英国贸易代表团访华期间，时任首相戴维·卡梅伦（David Cameron）表示希望“播撒长期关系的种子，使中国、英国和世界各国未来的几代人受益”。自从2016年6月“脱欧”公投以来，加强英国的全球影响力和联系的重要性与日俱增，而中国在其中将继续发挥关键性的作用。我热切地感受到，我们只有通过在包括贸易在内的所有与我们息息相关的问题上都开展密切合作才能建立这种关系。

作为三大战略双边对话之一的中英高级别人文交流机制所产生的影响，将是推动这一议程的关键。英国文化教育协会所发挥的作用是有益而重要的：该对话涵盖了英国文化教育协会的三大核心领域（教育、文化和体育），而英国文化教育协会的首席执行官同时也是对话的联合秘书长。该对话是双边总体接触的基石之一——而当国际舞台处于动荡和紧张的时刻，该对话因其真正意义上的包容性而越发具有重大的意义。

As I write this article, I am marking my 4th anniversary as Director of the British Council in China and a total of 33 years since I first came to China, as a student at Fudan University in Shanghai. In that time, I have witnessed the truly amazing transformation of China, and over the same period, the British Council has also actively worked alongside our Chinese partners on exchanges which have been catalysts for sustainable, mutually benef i cial change in key areas of China’s own development plans.

people to people contacts: for a more peaceful, tolerant and secure world

Established by Royal Charter in 1947, and working in over 110 countries, the British Council is the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries, and in turn –this generates the trust to build on for a shared future.We work with thousands of professionals, policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and skills programmes. We believe that people to people contacts－whether in China or elsewhere －make a powerful and lasting contribution to a more peaceful, tolerant and secure world. In short, we do all we can to harness, publicise, promote and pursue UK/China people to people initiatives, and we have a wide range of relationships, from the top down, which support and drive this work.

2016年“永恒的莎士比亚”项目在中国举办了超过100场活动，图为伊恩·麦凯伦爵士在上海出席活动，他在舞台剧和电影中诠释过众多莎士比亚的作品

那么，我们实际上都从事哪些工作呢？

英国文化教育协会作为英国大使馆文化教育处于1979年成立，其前身是由著名汉学家李约瑟博士（Dr. Joseph Needham）于1943年创办的中英科技合作办公室。我们在5个中国城市设有办事处，并活跃在35个二三线城市。我们与英国大使馆保持紧密合作，并主导双边教育与文化交流项目。我们还在围绕其他软实力问题与英国利益相关方召开会议，目的是与合作伙伴建立关系，并为参与两国关键经济部门事务的英方合作伙伴提供更广泛的经济机会。英国文化教育协会与中国文化 部共同签署了1979年双边文化交流协定以及英中两国在教育、文化、语言评估和体育等领域内达成的许多其他谅解备忘录。

2015年以来，英中两国共同致力于在双边关系的“黄金时代”中构建“面向21世纪的全球全面战略伙伴关系”。为此，英国文化教育协会通过在语言教学和评估、教育交流、文化创意以及体育等方面开展工作，在性别平等、多元化和包容（EDI）方面开展的工作也越来越多，在建立并维持双边关系方面发挥了重要的作用。我们将与英中两国的合作伙伴共同在这些行业的专业人士、个人和机构之间建立联系，不断夯实双方经济增长的基础。

On a UK trade mission to China in December 2013, then Prime Minister David Cameron said he hoped to “plant the seeds of a long-term relationship which will benef i t China, Britain and the world for generations to come”. Since the EU referendum in June 2016, the importance of strengthening the UK’s global influence and connections has grown, and China continues to be a key priority for the UK. I feel passionately that such a relationship will only come about by also working together on issues – beyond trade - that affect us all.

Key to driving this agenda is the impact of the UK/China High-Level People to People Dialogue, one of three strategic bilateral dialogues. The British Council’s role is instrumental and central: leading on three of its strands (education, culture and sport) and with our Chief Executive as the Dialogue’s joint Secretary-General. The dialogue is one of the cornerstones of overall bilateral engagement – and at a time of fl ux and tension on the international stage, this Dialogue assumes an even greater importance as it is genuinely inclusive.

So, what do we actually do?

The British Council was established in China in 1979 as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, building on the work of the Sino-British Science Cooperation Office established by the noted sinologist Dr. Joseph Needham in 1943. We have off i ces in fi ve cities across China and are active in an additional 35 tier two and tier three cities. We work closely with the British Embassy, and lead on bilateral education programmes and cultural links. We also convene across UK stakeholders on other soft power issues with the aim of building relationships with partners, and of building wider economic opportunities for UK partners engaged in these key economic sectors for our two countries. The British Council is cosignatory with the Chinese Ministry of Culture to the bilateral 1979 Cultural Exchange Agreement; as well as a number of other Memoranda of Understanding between the UK and China on education, culture, language assessment and sport.

Since 2015, the UK and China have made a joint commitment to build “a global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century”, in a “golden era” in the bilateral relationship. The British Council plays an important role here in building and maintaining the ties which really bind our two peoples –through our work in language teaching, assessment, education exchange, culture and creative engagement and sport, and increasingly our work in gender parity and EDI. We work with partners across the UK and across China, and build links between professionals, individuals and institutions in these sectors which increasingly underpin mutual economic growth.

让英国年轻人通过对中国的认识参与全球经济

英中两国都有着悠久的教育传统，分别采取了截然不同但同样成功的方法。英国处于创造力和教学创新的最前沿，而中国则在学术严谨性和技术创新领域处于主导地位。我们致力于培养两国青年人、学术界和机构之间的终身联系。我们还通过执行相关方案鼓励更多英国年轻人来中国读书；我们的工作也有助于中国实现高等教育体系的国际化。

英国的高等教育体系凭借自身的国际战略力求更上一层楼，并因此在中国享有很高的声誉。许多选择前往英国留学的学生都是自费的，而2012年以来中国政府已经提供了11000笔奖学金，目前在英国有15万名中国学生。海外学生能够直接通过在英国大学的学习终身受益，提高专业能力和社会流动性并获得信任。英国也率先推出了跨国教育模式，并在中国提供联合学位课程，其中包括了大学联合项目，例如宁波诺丁汉大学和西安交通利物浦大学等。目前有57000名中国年轻人正在中国攻读英国学位。英国文化教育协会在为英国大学就设立此类联合项目提供咨询和支持方面，发挥着关键性的作用。

在赴英国留学人数保持数十年增长后，英国高校现有约60万中国校友。这个群体的大部分成员在中国生活和工作。这一群体（以及曾经来华留学的英国国民）对培育英中两国间的可持续的长期关系有着潜在的显著影响。

英国政府已经认识到让英国年轻人为参与竞争性的全球经济做好准备的重要性，特别是通过对中国的认识。自2012年设立以来，英国文化教育协会的“英国未来计划”在中国政府和大学的慷慨支持下累计已帮助3.5万名英国年轻人在中国留学和实习。该计划也大大增加了英国年轻人在中国学习和实习的机会（针对那些如果没有该计划就不能获得此类机会的英国人而言）。这些计划使更多人熟悉了中国的语言和文化，是增进两国之间的主流理解以及更广泛的文化和经济交往的关键，同时也有助于实现英中文化关系“黄金时代”的相关愿景。

UK young generation: engagement in the global economy through awareness of China

Both Britain and China have rich traditions in education, each characterised by two distinct but equally successful approaches. Britain is at the cutting edge of creativity and pedagogic innovation, while China leads on academic rigour and increasingly, technological innovation.We nurture lifelong links between young people, and between academics and institutions in both our countries. We also run programmes to encourage more young British people to study in China; and our work contributes to China's ambitions to internationalise its higher education system.

The UK’s higher education system enjoys a strong reputation in China as it seeks to move forward with its own international strategy. While many choosing to study in the UK are selfpaying, the Chinese government has supported 11,000 scholarships since 2012; and there are overall currently 150,000 Chinese students in the UK. The direct experience of overseas students studying at our universities has been shown to be life-long, boosting professional capacity, social mobility and building trust.The UK has also pioneered models of transnational education with joint degree programmes offered in China, with various delivery models, including joint university campuses such as the University of Nottingham Ningbo China and Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Currently 57,000 Chinese young people are studying for a UK degree in China. The British Council has a key role in advising and supporting UK universities to set up such joint programmes.

Following several decades of increased student mobility from China, there are now an estimated 600,000 Chinese alumni of UK HE institutions the vast majority of whom are living and working in China. The inf l uence of this group (and those British nationals who have studied in China) is potentially signif i cant, in nurturing a sustainable, long-term relationship between the UK and China.

The UK Government recognises the importance of preparing the next generation of UK young people for engagement in a competitive global economy, in particular through awareness of China. Since its inception in 2012, the British Council’s Generation UK programme has seen a cumulative total of 35,000 British young people study and intern in China, with the very generous support of the Chinese government and universities. The programme has also greatly increased access for young British people, targeted at those who might not otherwise be able to access such opportunities, to study and intern in China. Such programmes, which enable more people to be conversant with the language and the culture of China, are key to building greater mainstream understanding, wider cultural and economic engagement between our two nations, and help to bring about aspirations of the “golden age” of UKChina cultural relations.

英国文化教育协会多年来一直为小学生和教师提供广泛的学校合作和教育机会。汉语被确定为在英国学习的最重要的语言之一。目前直接由英国文化教育协会支持的主要倡议包括旨在支持5000名英国小学生达到汉语熟练水平的汉语推广计划（一项我们与伦敦大学学院教育研究所联合实施的计划），以及上海英格兰数学交流计划。

英国文化教育协会在语言以及其他科目的考试方面开展了大规模的工作。我们提供一系列广受认可的英国资格考试，特别是在英语和金融方面，其中最受欢迎的考试当数IELTS考试和ACCA考试。我们在“FutureLearn”平台上开设的IELTS备考课程是全世界最受欢迎的大型开放式网络课程之一，其中很大一部分要归功于IELTS考试在中国的普及，中国IELTS考生的人数占全球考生总数的四分之一。

据估计，中国有3亿英语学习者和200万名英语教师，对语言培训有需求。英国文化教育协会目前在中国并未设立英语语言教学中心，但我们提供可免费获取的内容和资料。我们还与中方教育机构合作伙伴共同提高英语教学的标准——我们在过去的35年多里一直是这样做的。我们也乐于支持英国学校汉语教学的发展。

我们在中国执行的所有计划，都力图融入对妇女和女童经济赋权的关注。世界各地的性别平等与经济繁荣息息相关，同时也是可持续发展目标中目标5规定的全球优先事项。其中包括2016年12月启动的未来菁媖中国行动，这是一项旨在消除在校儿童对于不同性别所从事职业的刻板印象的计划；以及今年8月在北京开幕的由英国南岸艺术中心发起并由我们支持的“WOW世界女性艺术节”。

文化、教育是英国推广价值观的方式

在充满不确定性的时代，艺术保持着良好的关系和开放的沟通渠道。它们提醒我们都有哪些共通之处；它们让我们感到安全；它们提醒我们终将战胜一切的是创造力，而不是破坏。我们的艺术作品把两国的专业人士和观众连接在了一起——英中两国不仅将向对方的观众展示彼此的创意作品，而且还将通过培训和专业交流分享创作这些作品时所采用的技艺。

The British Council has supported a wide range of school partnerships and educational opportunities for pupils and teachers over many years. Chinese has been identified as one of the most important languages to learn in the UK. Current high profileinitiatives supported directly by the British Council include the Mandarin Expansion Programme aimed at supporting 5,000 pupils in English schools to achieve Mandarin fl uency (in a programme in which we partner with the Institute of Education/UCL) – as well as the Shanghai-England maths exchange.

The British Council’s examinations work, in language and other subjects, is on a large scale. We deliver a range of highly valued UK qualifications, particularly in English and Finance, with IELTS and ACCA the most popular. Our IELTS preparation course on the FutureLearn platform is one of the world's most popular MOOCs – in large part because of the popularity of IELTS in China, which accounts for one quarter of all global candidature.

There are an estimated 300 million learners of English and two million English language teachers in China, with demand for more provision of training. The British Council does not currently have English language teaching centres in China, but we offer free to access content and materials. We also work with partners in Chinese education institutions to raise standards in English teaching – something we have been doing for over 35 years. We are also happy to be supporting the growth of Chinese teaching in schools in the UK.

Across all our programmes in China, we seek to embed a focus on the economic empowerment of women and girls. Gender equality throughout the world is linked to economic prosperity and is a global priority as set out in Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes the launch, in December 2016, of Inspiring Women China, a programme designed to address gender stereotyping on careers among school children; and our support for the launch of the Southbank’s Women of the World (WOW!) in Beijing this August.

promoting UK values through culture and education

In uncertain times, the arts maintain good relationships and open channels of communication. They remind us what we have in common; they make us feel secure; and they remind us that creativity, not destruction, will prevail. Our arts work connects professionals and audiences in both countries－not only bringing British creative work to the attention of Chinese audiences, and vice versa, but sharing the skills that make that work possible, through training and professional exchange.

2015年是英中两国历史上第一个双边文化交流年。英国文化季由英国文化教育协会策划，在中国推出了超过200场活动，为英中两国未来创意和艺术人才的长期蓬勃发展提供了持久的财富。数字技术和为英国文化季提供支持的众多合作伙伴发挥了（并且仍然发挥着）重要的作用：通过转播、印刷和数字媒体，超过10亿名观众收看了威廉王子主持的启动仪式，有7142万人观看了本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇参与的环节。

2016年，英国文化教育协会举办的“永恒的莎士比亚”项目涵盖超过100个国家，在长达一年的时间里通过各种活动纪念这位剧作家。这其中包括与中国文化部共同举办的中国顶尖剧作家汤显祖的纪念活动。这一成功的双边活动通过艺术加强了英中友好和文化交流。“永恒的莎士比亚”在中国举办了超过100场活动，现场观众5万人，通过平面、数字和广播媒体覆盖的受众（累计）有20多亿。皇家莎士比亚剧团、莎士比亚环球剧院以及包括伊恩·麦凯伦爵士和乔纳森·普莱斯在内的杰出人物的参与，使活动自始至终保持了极大的吸引力。

2017年，我们将通过精心策划的“灵动青春”活动进一步加强与中国的合作。更多信息可浏览https:// www.britishcouncil.cn/SOY。

我热爱我所从事的工作，并对外界对我们的工作及其产生的影响给予的积极评价和高度关注感到欣慰。英国智库ResPublica主管菲利普·布朗德最近在谈到英国文化教育协会时表示：“它是英国在世界上运用软实力开展的最有效的行动”，他说：“这就是英国推广其价值观的方式,不是强加于人，而是表明我们的信念是什么以及我们的信念为何如此重要。大多数外国人都是通过它初次接触英国和英国文化的。”

在与中国的长期交往过程中，英国文化教育协会始终把重点放在建立更加深入和更加广泛的长期联系上。无论身处哪个行业或从事哪种职业，年轻人通过英国文化教育协会获得的经验都将在他们的职业生涯中得到实践——他们个人往往都有着根深蒂固的英国情结。

2015 marked the fi rst ever bilateral Year of Cultural Exchange. The UK season was curated by the British Council and presented over 200 events in China, forming a lasting legacy for future generations of UK and Chinese creative and artistic talent to flourish over the long term. The digital footprint and partnerships which supported the UK season were (and remain) significant: the launch by HRH Duke of Cambridge alone had a total reach of over 1 billion people in China through broadcast, print and digital media. Further highlights included 71.42 million people reached through Benedict Cumberbatch’s involvement in the campaign.

Throughout 2016, the British Council’s Shakespeare Lives programme curated events in over 100 countries, in a yearlong celebration of the playwright’s legacy. These have included joint events with the Chinese Ministry of Culture to mark the shared anniversary with China’s own leading playwright, Tang Xianzu, and thus enabling a highly successful bilateral campaign that strengthened UK – China friendship and cultural exchange through the arts. The programme saw over 100 Shakespeare Lives events in China, reaching 50,000 people faceto-face and more than 2 billion (cumulatively) through print, digital and broadcast media. The Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare’s Globe and leading figures including Sir Ian McKellen and Jonathan Price were among those engaged with the campaign, enabling us to develop aplethora of engaging activity from start to fi nish.

In 2017, we will build upon this impactful engagement with our partners in China through a carefully curated campaign under the theme “Spirit of Youth”. More information can be found https://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/SOY.

I am extremely passionate about the work I do, and welcome the positive and high regard others have for our work, and our impact. Phillip Blond, director of the ResPublica think tank, said recently of the British Council:

“It is the most effective British operation in the world at the use of soft power,” he said. “It is the way this country promotes its values, not imposing them on others but saying that is what we believe and why it is important. It is where most foreign people have their fi rst contact with Britain and its culture”.

The British Council has throughout our long relationship with China focused on building long-term, deeper and broader links. Experiences of the kind supported by the British Council are ones which our young people will take forward into their careers, whichever sector or profession they go into – all of them with a personal and often deeply held connection to the UK.