UK-China relations: the role of British MPs in making policy

 

You are cordially invited to a Keynote Lecture hosted by the Contemporary China Studies Programme, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, given by Mark Logan MP, a Vice-Chair of the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary China Group. 

Outline 

Covid-19, Huawei, Uighur Muslims, national security investment, Hong Kong, and pretty much the kitchen sink have all been thrown at the UK-China relationship in this new decade.  

The question is, what role do backbench MPs play in the making of China policy in the UK, and which other drivers are as, if not more, important in how one of the world’s most historic bilateral relationships progresses? 

Foreign policy making is often seen as the preserve of Foreign Secretaries, Prime Ministers and the Civil Service bureaucracy, such as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). But is it? With the democratisation of decision-making evidenced by referenda for issues like Brexit and Scottish Independence, along with a growing role for social media in mobilising public interest in policy debates, is it individual MPs that are now becoming the vehicle through which the public can effect change? 

This talk will examine these issues using the UK’s current relationship with China as a case study to enable a better understanding of how foreign policy is prioritised, packaged and delivered in Britain today. 

And afterwards, do join us for informal drinks with Mark in the Wordsworth Tea Room 

 

Mark Logan MP, elected in 2019, is an Alumnus of the MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies in the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies. He began his China-focused career in the 2000s and experienced first-hand the ‘Golden era’ doctrine of the Cameron-Osborne administration through his time working at the FCO in China. He is a Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary China Group and has had a front seat in key political debates as the UK and China have experienced a new low in their bilateral relationship.