My most terrifying experience in China found me standing on a Beijing stage performing a kind of traditional comic cross-talk known as xiangsheng alongside a well-known Chinese comedian. A large audience of aficionados was silent as we started to tell a lengthy shaggy dog story full of the word play to which the Chinese language uniquely lends itself. I was, as it were, a kind of Eric Morecambe and Mr Liu was Ernie Wise.
However, it was not as an apprentice comedian that I first went to China but as a young diplomat grappling with the last disastrous years of Mao Zedong’s imperial rule. Since then, I have been fortunate to follow the extraordinary changes of the past 40 or so years. As a diplomat, I was official interpreter for Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister, and the royal family when Hua Guofeng, Mao’s successor, visited the UK in 1979. As a businessman, I have led negotiations with many Chinese entities, ranging from the Central Military Commission to the central bank. I have developed great affection and respect for China and its people.
Both sides say this month’s visit by Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist party and president of China, heralds a “golden era” in relations.