Conservative Friends of the Chinese

The Conservative Friends of the Chinese[1] is linked to the Conservative Party in the UK, and is a membership organization which engages with the British Chinese community and on UK - China relations. It actively campaigns for the Conservative Party in the British Chinese community.[2]

It has been referred to by Anne Applebaum as a lobby group that has many prominent parliamentarians as its members and one that lobbies openly within the U.K. political system.[3]

The Group has been credited with helping the Conservative Party win over the British Chinese community. In the run up to the British General Elections in 2015, it was reported by YouGov and The Times that the 'Tories have won over Britain's Chinese community[4]' and 'the party has a 22-point lead among Britons of Chinese origin, who number roughly 400,000 in England and Wales.[5]' The organisation's Director is based at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 4 Matthew Parker Street in Central London.

Since its formation, the group has organised a series of high profile and well attended events by UK Cabinet Ministers in to engage the British Chinese community.[6]

The Group was launched by Boris Johnson in May 2013 to an audience of 200 from the community[7] and then followed by an event at No. 11 Downing Street with the Chancellor George Osborne.[8]

Its parliamentary arm has regularly organised Chatham House rules events in the British Parliament with Government Ministers, politicians, reporters and leading business figures such as Sir Martin Sorrell of the WPP group, Lord Chris Patten, Carrie Gracie of BBC China.[9]

Mission statement

Their mission is to develop meaningful interaction and understanding between the Conservative Party and the various British Chinese communities. The Conservative Friends of the Chinese is a member-led organisation that champions the values and culture of the British Chinese communities and emphasises the parallels with the beliefs of the Conservative Party. It strongly advocates for closer relations between China and Britain and is an impressive source of information on China, the British Chinese communities and the global Chinese Diaspora for its key stakeholders.[10]

Patrons
  • The Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP [11]

Board and notable members

Chairs:

The Group is reputed to be one of the largest organisations in the British Chinese community with members from all walks of the community,[14] including key community and business leaders.

Lord Michael Dobbs, the author of House of Cards, is a Board member of the group, as is Michael Bates, Baron Bates, whose wife is Chinese.

Another active member of the group is also Alan Mak, the Conservative MP for Havant. He, however has been quoted in the media saying 'he cares little for his ethnic identity, preferring to focus more on the "bigger and more important" issues. He also dismissed as naive the belief that his victory would mean the party would better address the needs of the 500,000 or so British Chinese and East Asians, the country's third-largest ethnic group. "And I certainly have no interest in what people in Hong Kong or China think of me, because I am not representing them. I am representing the people of Havant ... '.[15]

A former Political Director of the group is Jackson Ng,[16] a Barrister and a political advisor in the House of Lords who was the Conservative Party's Parliamentary Candidate for Liverpool Riverside[17] in the May 2015 British General Elections and St Helens North for the June 2017 General Elections.[18]

Former political directors are Johnny Luk and Xingang Wang.

Sub-groups and other sister organisations

The Conservative Friends of the Chinese works closely with other affiliated groups of the Conservative Party and they are listed below.

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References
  1. "Conservative Friends of the Chinese". Conservative Friends of the Chinese. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  2. "Securing the Majority 6) Build on CCHQ's ethnic minority campaigning". Conservative Home. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  3. https://www.facebook.com/anne.applebaum. "Opinion | New cabinet may signal Britain's retreat as a Western power". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  4. Kellner, Peter (2015-02-17). "Tories still a long way from closing their ethnic gap". The Times. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  5. "Multicultural Britain is a foreign land". The Times. 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  6. "Befriending Britain's Chinese: Conservatives reach out – Nee Hao Magazine". Neehao.co.uk. 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  7. BBC英伦网记者 立行 (1970-01-01). "英保守党成立华人组织 博弈英中关系 - BBC UKChina - 走进英国". BBC. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  8. "保守党华人之友夏季酒会在唐宁街11号 at UKCBA.ORG". Ukcba.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  9. "Conservative Friends of the Chinese". Conservative Friends of the Chinese. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  10. "Our Vision & Mission Statement". Conservative Friends of the Chinese. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  11. "House of Commons Patron". Conservative Friends of the Chinese. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  12. "Parliamentary Chairman". Conservative Friends of the Chinese. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  13. "Chairman". Conservative Friends of the Chinese. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  14. 何越 BBC英倫網特約撰稿人. "英國社區大臣：今年將出現首位華裔議員 - BBC 主页". BBC. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  15. "Politician Alan Mak makes history as first Chinese elected to British parliament | South China Morning Post". Scmp.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  16. "British Chinese in Profile: Jackson Ng – Nee Hao Magazine". Neehao.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  17. "星島手機版". M.singtao.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  18. Dunn, Connor (May 30, 2017). "St Helens North constituency candidates for General Election 2017". liverpoolecho.
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