Acting cleverly

The recent exposure of industrial-scale thefts of artefacts from the British Museum's collections has left that institution's already dented reputation in tatters, and its country's along with it.

Mired in controversy over its obstinate refusal to return the Parthenon Sculptures, Benin Bronzes and other dubiously acquired cultural objects to their countries of origin, the Museum now has to explain how some two thousand objects entrusted to its care were stolen from the stores and sold, without anyone apparently noticing until some of them turned up for sale on eBay. There might have been some sympathy (these things do happen in the best-regulated institutions) had the Museum not so arrogantly trumpeted its superior safeguarding of such treasures over that which their countries of origin could provide. That claim now seems hollow and, indeed, hubristic; doing nothing to aid the Museum's belated attempts to retrieve its own stolen items.

As British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, visits China (the first UK Foreign Secretary to do so since Jeremy Hunt in 2018) an editorial in the Global Times, an organ of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, adds its voice to the chorus of criticism. And it doesn't mince its words: “The UK, which has a bloody, ugly, and shameful colonial history, has always had a strong sense of moral superiority over others, often standing on the moral high ground to dictate to and even interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. We really do not know where their sense of moral superiority comes from.” Neither do many of us Brits, comrades.

Whether or not deliberately designed to pull the rug out from under Mr Cleverly if he raises uncomfortable issues of Uyghur persecution, intellectual  property theft and industrial espionage, Hong Kong democracy, Taiwan independence, balance of trade disparities and harassment of its students studying abroad (it's a long list), the Chinese have a valid point. 

Two wrongs, of course, never make a right but the least the British on their side can do is to fess up to their own past misdeeds in order to clear the way for a more honest, less hypocritical dialogue. Finger pointing is unlikely to get either side very far but China is now a vastly bigger player on the world stage than Britain and Beijing won't hesitate to rub our noses in our past wrongdoings wherever and whenever it can. There is plenty of scope, goodness knows.

We need to tread carefully with China because we are not dealing with a pleasant regime and shouldn't seek to appease it at any cost. However, a modicum of humility would go a long way. The clever thing Cleverly could do, I suggest, would be to wrongfoot Beijing by apologising unreservedly for the Opium Wars and the sacking of the Old Summer Palace during the Second Opium War of 1860, perhaps offering up by way of a charm offensive some choice pieces of looted Chinese art from British collections. 

In 2018 (coincidentally the year of the last Foreign Secretary visit) an exceptionally rare Western Zhou bronze, the Tiger Ying, taken from the palace and found in the prosaic setting of a Kent bungalow, was returned to China. Only, though, after a Chinese buyer successfully bid for it at open auction in Canterbury and donated it to his nation. The British state should be proactive in further such returns.

Since we can no longer (thank God) indulge in gunboat diplomacy, expressions of regret and shows of magnanimity are, arguably, our remaining 'soft power' strong suit. It won't happen under the UK's current shambolic Tory government, with its stubborn 'tin ear' approach to the subtle arts of diplomatic negotiation, but happen it must if we are to have a hope in hell of regaining our influence in world affairs post-Brexit.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, they say, and many nations have shameful pasts, the Chinese included. The honourable thing to do, therefore, is to acknowledge past errors and seek to make amends for them wherever possible.

We must all learn to develop a taste for humble pie.

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