Touch Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Gilbert on Touch Beijing

First of all more about the program. Touch Beijing is Radio Beijing international’s flagship news and current affairs program. It’s an English language show, which broadcasts live every weekday between 5-6pm from the studios on Jianguomenwai Dajie in Beijing. People in Beijing can tune into the show on 92.3FM and 774AM, but they also broadcast to listeners around the world through the website (http://www.am774.com/) and various radio apps. Each day they invite different guests to join in the studio for an interview, either about a specific topic or their own experiences.

Not the first time

Many years ago I was regularly interviewed on the radio by my friend Bruce Connolly, mostly about the Olympics. Bruce is also a regular at our Monthly Old China Hands Lunch. But I was never in the studio, Bruce always interviewed me on the phone.

The interview

This time, Gilbert on Touch Beijing, was in the studio in the late afternoon of 13 November 2019.

See the pics, it was a fun interview. My hosts were Kat (UK) and Bryan (Beijing). Someone took pictures during the interview which proves it is better to have audio than video…
You can listen, skipping the first 30 minutes of the program:

All recordings: https://mobile.tingtingfm.com/v3/vod/2/2d9esYjxNd
Gilbert: https://mobile.tingtingfm.com/v3/vod/2/Oo5psb0lYd

The questions

See here some of the questions (edited) I received beforehand. Pretty much “the usual”.

  • What was it that first brought you to China?
  • Before you came to China in 1980, what did you know about the country?
  • You originally came to China with a Belgian group to help build a power plant. You then worked on a number of large scale projects (such as the Shanghai metro) and you set up your own company – Beijing Global Strategy Consulting Company. But perhaps the highest profile project you worked on was the preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. How did you become involved in that? What did your job entail?
  • I read in an interview that you never intended to stay in China forever, but you’ve now been here for over three decades (and have a coveted Chinese Green Card). What is it about China that has kept you here for all these years?
  • We could dedicate a whole show to the question “how much has changed since you first arrived in Beijing.” But are there any changes that have particularly surprised/impressed you during that time?
  • As if all of this hadn’t kept you busy enough – you’re also a marathon runner, a cyclist and a published author of two very different kinds of books – “Toxic Capitalism” deals with environmental issues, and “Laugh and Get Wiser” is a joke book! What are your plans for the year of the rat?

BRITF visited Paris and Minsk

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Going abroad

This year delegations of BRITF visited Paris and Minsk.

Paris in April and July 2019

I could not attend myself but Sun Bin took part. Our experts Jean Marsac and Martine Garreau from Paris joined, along with others.
See pictures of the 6 April and 18 July visits.

See the official statement for the 6 April 2019 visit: 190406Paris

Minsk, Belarus

The Ministry of Health of Belarus hosted the “One Belt and One Road International Medical Higher Education and Industry Development Forum” hosted by the Belarusian National Medical University. The French expert team led the group of European domestic medicines to gather in Minsk on 21 October 2019. Our experts Jean Marsac and Martine Garreau from Paris joined. Yan Fei from Beijing represented UWEE.

 

The forum defined three cooperation directions, through the signing of the cooperation and the relevant agreement by SDU-ZB Biomedical R&D Institute, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lincoln University College, MAHSA University, Paris Descartes University, Paris Sorbonne, and Belarusian State Medical University, We will open joint education programs in the cooperative colleges and universities, joint development of pre-master degree and doctoral talents. Chinese TCM enterprises will set up TCM centers in various countries.

For the official announcement and more pictures: 191021UWEEMinsk

BRITF setup and experts

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Setting up our team of experts

More here about the BRITF setup and experts (See here about BRITF), we had several meetings where experts were added to our team.
Dates were 4 January, 19 March and 11 September 2019.
The names mentioned are not the complete list as other Chinese and foreign experts have been appointed on several occasions, such as in Paris and other cities.

4 January 2019

Most of the meetings take place in the UWEE offices, near the beautiful Xishuku Cathedral.
See the program. Every expert made a speech to comment on his added value.
At the inauguration ceremony, Gilbert Van Kerckhove was elected as the rotating chairman, and Michael Graham, Harvey Dzodin, Mark Howard Levine, William Spiers, David Feng and Edwin Charles Maher (absent) were elected to the Standing Committee.
Mr. Wang Lishe of China International Talent Exchange Foundation thanked BRITF Office and UWEE for successfully hosting the event.
The original report in Chinese with a rough English translation: 190104 BRITFsetup
See pictures of the meeting

19 March 2019

In this meeting, again next to the cathedral, Renaat Morel, Sydney Parmenter, Danial Albrecht, and Faddy Fadel (Dean of the American Business School in Paris) received their appointment letters from Gilbert Van Kerckhove and Yan Fei.
See some pictures of the meeting:

11 September 2019

During the meeting Gilbert Van Kerckhove and Yan Fei handed over the certificates to the new experts of the team, (Ms.) Mary Ho, Danny Lingham, (Ms.) He Bingxin and François Bernard.
The team of experts consists of representatives from many countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, USA, UK, Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and other.
See here the pictures:

UWEE and Guangming Magazine

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

About Guangming Daily

The Guangming Daily (Guangming Ribao) is the official newspaper for China’s intellectuals who focus on science, education and culture. Launched in June 1949, the paper has its roots in a free-thinking and critically oriented tradition. It was originally the paper of the China Democratic League and in 1953 represented the eight minority ‘democratic’ parties in China.

In the 1980s, a period of flourishing intellectual debate, the Guangming Ribao became a mouthpiece for the interests of intellectuals, focusing editorials on their political status and working and living conditions. In 1994, the paper became a central Party organ under the direct supervision of the Central Party Propaganda Committee. In the early 2000s, the paper is still read widely in intellectual and academic circles, but has had some difficulty redefining its position in China’s new commercially oriented newspaper market. It relies heavily upon obligatory subscriptions from Party and state work units such as schools, universities, and publishing and cultural organizations.
(By Kevin Latham)

Guangming Online (English): http://en.gmw.cn/

Guangming Studying Abroad Magazine

The magazine, also referred to as Guangming Educator, Guangming Daily Young Journalist and other. It looks at topics related to studying abroad and related, including reporting on foreign universities. It is also involved in training young journalists, often in cooperation with local Chinese governments.

One of the issues of the magazine

Website Guangming Studying Abroad Magazine (Chinese only): http://liuxue.gmw.cn/

UWEE and Guangming Magazine sign agreement

Guangming Daily Young Journalist & Union of Western and Eastern Education Strategic Cooperation held a meeting on 14 October 2019 that also included the signing ceremony between the two parties. Were also present, several members of the Foreign Specialist team and others, including Sydney Parmenter, Mary Ho, Sun Bin, Gilbert Van Kerckhove, and Maurice.
See here the web report by UWEE in PDF, it also has the link to the original text:

191014 UWEE

The agreement covers cooperation to connect with universities worldwide.

New appointments

Recently the following specialists were appointed as members of the Foreign Expert Committee under SAFEA, China International Talent Exchange Foundation:

  • Fady Fadel, Ph.D. (Dean, The American Business School of Paris)
  • Renaat Morel (Morel’s Restaurant, Beijing)
  • Daniel Albrecht (lawyer)
  • Sydney Parmenter
  • Mary Ho

 

China Foreign Investment Law

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Call for comments

A major Chinese news agency asked me for my comments on the China Foreign Investment Law, in the middle of March. I tried to give a more honest approach keeping in mind the concerns of the small and medium foreign enterprises. Their voice is mostly ignored in favor of the bigger companies who have little choice but to play nice and avoid controversial remarks.
Not surprisingly, auto-censorship on the Chinese side could not let my contribution pass. Only favorable comments were welcome. And I refused to sugarcoat the issues.
It is actually not very constructive to improve the business environment if any meaningful dialogue is banned.
The most important comment I had left out: “Why is there a need for a China Foreign Investment Law anyway?” If foreigners set up a legal Chinese entity in China, why a different treatment? In the E.U. such as in Belgium no such law exists.

See the comment from the European Chamber, part of the article “European Chamber’s Stance on the Foreign Investment Law”, see https://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/en/press-releases/2937

More than anything else, foreign companies want equal treatment and opportunities, while not all of our concerns were addressed in this law, it is time to move forward. We will closely monitor the FIL’s implementation to ensure that it is fully respected at all levels of government and in all corners of this country.

My comments on the China Foreign Investment Law

See the full text here:  190315 foreigninvestmentlaw

What is acesulfame?

I already explained but just google it for more details.
The point I want to make is that this substance is not known and receives no attention. But the consequences of the ban have been dramatic for many foreign products entering China: all destroyed. You won’t read those stories in the press.

Dialogue is necessary

The European Chamber and Amcham, among others, are still keeping up their dialogue with the Chinese authorities to get rid of unfair rules and have scored progress for a range of products.
Also, the general feeling of Europeans (including me) is that China becoming a world power is not a threat as such; how it fulfills its role is another matter.

Much remains to be done to make the business environment open and fair. Indeed a painful issue is the unequal treatment of foreign businesses in general.
More about that later in other posts.