Former Ambassador Dan Chugg speaking at China Centre

Former Ambassador Dan Chugg speaking at China Centre

Tuesday 12 May, 17:00–18:30 BST, China Centre, Kin-ku Cheng Lecture Theatre

Can the United Kingdom still shape its relationship with China – or is it now largely reacting to forces beyond its control? As rivalry between Beijing and Washington intensifies, the UK finds itself navigating an increasingly narrow path between economic interdependence and strategic constraint.

This lecture examines how UK policy towards China is actually made: across Whitehall, in close coordination (and occasional tension) with the United States and the EU, and through direct engagement with Beijing itself. Drawing on his own firsthand experience, Dan Chugg offers an inside account of how decisions are taken, how trade-offs are managed, and how misjudgements can arise.

He will explore how triangular dynamics of the US–China–EU relationship impacts the UK, and distinguish between the cyclical swings that have long characterised the bilateral relationship and the deeper structural shifts now reshaping it – ranging from China’s domestic trajectory to the growing centrality of economic security.

The lecture will conclude by assessing the likely direction of travel over the next decade, and whether the UK can sustain a coherent strategy in a relationship that is at once indispensable, contested, and increasingly difficult to manage

Dan Chugg has just finished as the Director for Asia Pacific at the FCDO, having previously been British Ambassador to Myanmar. Before that, Dan was Head of Counter-Daesh Communications Department and Head of the ISIL Taskforce. Dan has had postings to Beijing as Political Counsellor and to New Delhi as Director of Communications. His first overseas posting was at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong. This followed two years of Cantonese language training at SOAS and the Chinese University in Hong Kong.