Society marks 60 years of Sino-British friendship
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On Saturday, 15 May, 1965, Joseph Needham addressed a packed assembly hall in Church House Westminster, central London, to announce the birth of “an organization for fostering friendship and mutual understanding between the British and the Chinese people”.
The renowned Cambridge University biochemist and science historian recounted his friendship with visiting Chinese scholars, his study of the Chinese language, and his scientific and technological liaison mission during World War II in Chongqing, the country’s wartime capital.
“One must always remember that China is not simply a different country from our own … but a different civilisation,” he told an audience that included bishops, members of the parliament, professors, artists, writers, and trade union leaders.
“There is thus a much greater gulf of fundamental assumptions to be bridged, as well as all the fascinating differences that arise in philosophy, art, landscape, religion, customs, and so on. This requires a real effort towards understanding, the very purpose of our new society,” he said.
It was named the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, or SACU, which, in the following decades, played a vital role in people-to-people exchanges between China and the United Kingdom.
Fast forward to a Saturday in late September. Around 200 people are gathered at King’s College London, celebrating the 60th anniversary of SACU.
Almost all of SACU’s core activities took shape in its first years including public conferences, film screenings, discussion meetings, Chinese language classes, and, most notably, its tours to China.
In the 1970s, these tours offered one of the few ways for ordinary Britons to see the country with their own eyes.
Frances Wood — a sinologist, historian, and former lead curator of the British Library’s Chinese collections — joined SACU’s first youth tour to China in 1971.
“What I liked most was simply seeing China and meeting people,” she recalled. “I would wander out into the villages where we stayed, walk around and talk to people.”
That early curiosity never left her. Wood went on to publish widely on Chinese history, from Marco Polo and the Silk Road to the first emperor of China, always seeking to illuminate the bigger picture through individual stories.
From the 1980s, China’s opening-up sparked wider public interest, and SACU — through its links with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries — was able to expand its tours. By 1985, the society said more than 10,000 people had been members at one time or another.
Alongside its tours and public events, SACU also built a publishing presence. In May 1970, it launched a monthly magazine, China Now, designed to provide Western readers with more in-depth discussions of developments in China. The magazine was renamed China in Focus in 1996, and since 2004 has appeared as China Eye.
The content of the magazines was mostly written by SACU members, with stories ranging from the latest news about China, announcements of upcoming lectures, book reviews and the first-hand reports about China written by members who had returned from the latest SACU tour.
As China opened up more in the 1990s, the society faced mounting competition. Yet, with its unique history, prominent members, and high-level connections, SACU still has the ability to “punch above its weight”, many attendees at the 60th anniversary event said.
Education was one of the areas that Zoe Reed tried to steer SACU towards. Reed, who has served as SACU chair since 2009, outlined the organisation’s next five-year plan.
One of SACU’s flagship projects is a joint essay competition with Peking University that encourages UK high school students to research topics such as overcoming cultural gaps between China and the West, taking a historical view of China-UK relations.
Sun Hua, director of Peking University’s China Centre for Edgar Snow Studies, was a partner on the project. He said the number of participating schools had expanded since the competition was launched at Needham’s alma mater, Oundle School, Peterborough, in 2015.
“I am very glad to be here to continue Joseph Needham’s great work of increasing harmony and understanding between the Chinese and British People,” said Sun, who flew to London and presented awards to the student winners at the SACU anniversary.
Carrying forward the spirit of Needham, SACU continues to broaden the conversation about China in the UK by engaging with scholars, artists, and public intellectuals. Among those lending their voices is historian and broadcaster Michael Wood, who has served as the president of SACU since 2020.
Speaking at the anniversary celebration, Wood said: “I hope that through all the other modern aspects of the media, SACU will find partners, increase its reach, and expand knowledge of China, but still remembering the key goal that was spoken on that platform in 1965.
“Friendship and understanding — that’s the greatest need in such a dangerous and unstable world.”
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