The Great Free Trade Myth: British Foreign Policy And East Asia Since 1980

204 Pages·2020·2.33 MB·English

by  Michael Reilly

The Great Free
Trade Myth
British Foreign Policy and
East Asia Since 1980
Michael Reilly
The Great Free Trade Myth
Michael Reilly
The Great Free Trade
Myth
British Foreign Policy and East Asia Since 1980
Michael Reilly
Taiwan Studies Programme
School of Politics and International Relations
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK
ISBN 978-981-15-8557-9 ISBN 978-981-15-8558-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8558-6
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It has justly been observed, that the interests and pursuits of so active and
opulent a portion of the community as is engaged in trade throughout the
British dominions, occupy, at all times, much of the attention, and, in the
proper spirit of a commercial nation, influence many of the measures of the
government.
Sir George Staunton: An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King
of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, London 1797
To Won Kyong
Acknowledgements
This book is the product of innumerable meetings, interviews, discus-
sions, and engagement, both formal and informal, over the course of
four decades. It would be impossible to list all the friends, colleagues,
and interlocutors whose contributions, often unwitting or subconscious,
through information, advice, encouragement, penetrating questions,
constructive criticism, or casual remarks did so much to advance my own
knowledge and understanding.
AmongthemanyformerFCOcolleagueswhohavecontributed,Iowe
a special debt to Rodric Braithwaite, whose patience, kindness, sound
advice and, in the words of another colleague, puckish sense of humour,
were inspirational and motivating in equal measure to an inexperienced
andhesitantjuniorofficer.Hisownpellucidprose—stimulating,thought-
provoking, humorous but never dull—also provides a model to aspire to
but one to which I fall badly short.
My first and last postings in Asia were in countries under authori-
tarian governments which often went to considerable lengths to control
and manipulate the flow of information, and to suppress the views of
thosetowhomtheytookexception.Oppositionpoliticiansanddissidents
fighting for human rights did much to advance my own knowledge in
thesecircumstances,oftenatgreatpersonalrisk.ChoiHyukBaeandPhee
Jung Sun in Korea both deserve special mention in this regard, but I am
grateful to them all.
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Despitetheperipateticnatureofadiplomaticlife,Ihavebeenfortunate
in making friendships that have endured the tests of time, distance, and
culture, among them David Huang, Michael Hsiao, and David Lin in
Taiwan.Allofthemhaveinonewayoranothercontributedtothisbook.
I was also privileged to work with a tremendous group of colleagues in
BAE Systems, especially Tony Ennis, a casual remark of whose was an
inspirationforthisbook.Theyhelpedprovideanimportantcountertothe
somewhat rarefied views of diplomats. Colleagues in other missions also
helped with deeper insights and to see matters in a different perspective,
none more so than Bob Wang, Brent Christensen, and Guy Wittich.
IammostgratefultotheMinistryofForeignAffairsinTaiwanforthe
generousawardofaTaiwanFellowship,andtocolleaguesintheInstitute
ofEuropeanandAmericanStudiesatAcademiaSinicainTaipei,Chien-yi
Lu especially, for hosting me for its duration. The fellowshipgave me the
opportunity and wherewithal to write much of this, the superb facilities
ofAcademiaSinica,especiallyitslibrariesandbeautifulcampus,thespace
and stimulus to do so.
ButmybiggestthanksbyfargotomywifeWonKyong,whohasbeen
withmefromtheverybeginningofthisadventure.Quitesimply,without
hersupport,hertolerance,understanding,andpatience,itwouldnothave
been possible. My debt to her is beyond price.
A Note on Romanisation and Names
BoththePeople’sRepublicofChinaandRepublicofKoreahavestandard
authorised systems for the romanisation of their scripts, hanyu pinyin in
the former and the revised romanisation system in the latter. Although
widely used, pinyin is not standard in Taiwan and the older Wade-
Giles system is still commonly used for place names and more—one of
Taiwan’stwomainpoliticalpartiesstillwritesitsnameinRomanscriptas
Kuomintang, not Guomindang, for example.
InbothTaiwanandKorea,individualsarefreetoromanisetheirnames
astheyseefit.BoththeWade-Gilessystem(inTaiwan)andtheMcCune-
Reischauer system in Korea are frequently used for this, together with
other forms of the individual’s own choice. For example, the Korean
family name Lee can also be written as Rhee, Li, Yi, or variants thereof,
and the Chinese family name Xu as Hsu. I have sought throughout
to follow the accepted current form for place names and the personal
preferences of individuals.
Although China’s capital is now generally known as Beijing, official
practice in the FCO until 1995 was to refer to it as Peking (one of
China’s pre-eminent universities is still known in English today as Peking
University, not Beijing University, while another is Tsinghua University,
the Wade-Giles form, not Qinghua, which it would be in pinyin). Rather
thanattemptingtostandardise,Ihavethereforeusedwhicheverformwas
in use in correspondence at the time.
xi
xii A NOTE ON ROMANISATION AND NAMES
Until 1991, when North and South Korea both joined the United
Nations, the British government recognised the government in Seoul
as the sole legitimate government of Korea. It was common practice
in reports and correspondence therefore to refer simply to ‘Korea’ or
the ‘Korean authorities’ when discussing the Republic of Korea (South
Korea). All references to ‘Korea’ or ‘Korean’ in this book similarly refer
specifically to the Republic of Korea and the authorities therein, not the
peninsula as a whole.