Four years have passed since China Now, the festival of arts that brought some of the best and newest examples of Chinese culture to the UK. The principle of the festival’s various shows was to shed light on a country that was seen in many quarters as threateningly opaque. Culture could prise open the door to a closed and hitherto mysterious society. Exchange programmes were devised and Britons flocked to engage with a new and exotic artistic language.
From the Chinese point of view, it was a classic example of the exercise of “soft power”, adding a humanising element to a diplomatic policy that could otherwise be perceived as intransigent. Culture could help bring people together, said the festival, even while governments remained locked in stalemate. The collaboration, blessed by all parties, was widely perceived as a win-win event.
Now comes round two: UK Now, the promotion of British culture in China, announced by the prime minister two years ago and winding its way around 20 Chinese cities until the end of November. But this time the aims are slightly different. British society is not particularly opaque and, as a certain event reminded us last weekend, its cultural ambassadors are well-known throughout the world.