This Way Forward

Zoë Reed’s English mother Susan met her Chinese father KC
Sun at college in the late 1940s. He had been brought over as the first ever
mature Chinese student funded by British United Aid to China; she was
one of only three women – from the cohort of 103. “She had a pretty good choice of which young man to fall in love with and told me there was a chap from Iceland she quite liked,” smiles Zoë. “But it was my father from China with whom she fell in love. They had a strong romance together.” A two-year affair ended when KC returned to
China... not knowing Susan was pregnant.

Initially told her father was dead, Zoë eventually discovered the truth and started a written correspondence, but didn’t meet him in person until her 46th birthday. They met under the huge flag in Beijing’s Tian-anmen Square, and Zoë finally connected with a long-minimized part of her heritage. Having built a personal bridge, she now helps others to do similar – as part of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU). Having joined as an ordinary member, she was persuaded to become its chair in 2009. SACU’s objective is to build friendship and understanding between the peoples of China and Britain, she explains: “Particularly, an education charity – to educate the British public about all things to do with China and the Chinese.” She has helped to build up SACU’s profile at a crucial time, amid growing Sinophobia in certain sections of society. “As the West has gotten more critical of China, I think the interest in SACU from British people who actually don’t think that’s the right route has gotten stronger,” she says. “We’ve got a growing number of people that are joining SACU, and I’m very excited that there’s a whole number of younger people.”

Presenter: Louise Greenwood
Producer: Sarah Parfitt 
Sound Editor: Terry Wilson
Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns 

Zi Lan Liao is one of the leading exponents of Chinese music. Her busy career on the international concert circuit has resulted in her being the most widely heard and best appreciated performer on the gu zheng worldwide. Her work includes Oscar-winning scores and modern fusion music – but her real passion is passing on her musical heritage to the British Chinese children of the Pagoda Arts Centre in Liverpool. 

In the late 1970s, Liao Zilan’s musician father took the life-changing decision to become a cultural officer in Liverpool. Liao and the family relocated from Guangzhou – but Liao continued to play the guzheng, or Chinese harp. A globe-leading musician experimenting with fusing Chinese and Western styles, she has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, toured internationally and recorded music for Hollywood film scores – but she still helps local children to get hands-on with Chinese musical instruments. “To actually see young people playing Chinese music live is something new to them – all they can imagine is seeing this instrument on the television but not be able to have hands on it,” she says. “And so they really think it's amazing that Liverpool children can, if they want, they can come and learn it.”

Presenter: Louise Greenwood
Producer: Elizabeth Mearns
Sound Editor: Terry Wilson
Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns 

In this series of podcasts, the story of how a brutal policy of forced repatriation caused thousands of Chinese men to disappear from Liverpool at the end of World War II. This policy, orchestrated by the British government, would leave families traumatised and the community broken.

In 1866, shipping group Alfred Holt & Company was founded in Liverpool. It quickly became one of the UK’s biggest shipping merchants, building established trade routes between Liverpool, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Its major subsidiary, the Blue Funnel Line, carried cotton, tea and silk, and relied heavily on Chinese sailors.

Over time, many of these seamen and traders settled in Liverpool, and on the eve of World War II the city was home to a thriving British-Chinese community of thousands. This harmony was short-lived as the end of the war saw a mass deportation of Chinese men.

We speak to the children and grandchildren of those men whose childhoods were blighted by the loss of their fathers and the secrecy and misinformation around the policy. 

We also speak to Rana Mitter, an Oxford University historian specializing in modern China, about the role of Chinese sailors in the British Merchant Navy and what these family members faced on their return to China.

Presenter: Jamie Owen
Producers: Elizabeth Mearns, Mark Ashenden
Series Producer: Simon Morris

In this series of podcasts, the story of how a brutal policy of forced repatriation caused thousands of Chinese men to disappear from Liverpool at the end of World War II. This policy, orchestrated by the British government, would leave families traumatized and the community broken.

During World War II, one in seven merchant seamen in the UK was Chinese. When the war was over, many returned to the lives they had built in Liverpool. But instead of the hero's welcome received by British servicemen, they found themselves facing sudden deportation. Despite many having roots in the city, including jobs, marriages and children, they were labelled troublemakers. Almost all of them were forcibly removed.

In this episode, we speak to the families left behind to poverty, stigma and racism and hear how secrecy surrounding the policy from the British government has exacerbated the families’ suffering – and hampered plans to find lost relatives.

We also speak to Rana Mitter, an Oxford University historian specializing in modern China, about the fate awaiting seamen once repatriated to China after more than a decade of war in the Pacific.

Presenter: Jamie Owen
Producers: Elizabeth Mearns, Mark Ashenden
Series Producer: Simon Morris

In this series of podcasts, the story of how a brutal policy of forced repatriation caused thousands of Chinese men to disappear from Liverpool at the end of World War II. This policy, orchestrated by the British government, would leave families traumatized and the community broken.

The deportations were shrouded in secrecy for decades, until declassification of Home Office files entitled “Compulsory repatriation of undesirable Chinese seamen” prompted members of the families left behind to take action.

In this episode, we follow the families, community members and Members of Parliament who are campaigning for justice. We hear Liverpool MP Kim Johnson raising questions in parliament and prompting minister Kevin Foster to launch an internal investigation. We talk to surviving family members about their continuing campaign for an official apology from the British government.

We also look at how some family members are still searching for lost relatives in China through new DNA techniques, and discover how the Chinese community in Liverpool is hoping a memorial to the sailors will keep their memories alive – and prevent history from repeating itself.

Presenter: Jamie Owen
Producers: Elizabeth Mearns, Mark Ashenden
Series Producer: Simon Morris

When Alex Hua Tian competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he became the first ever Chinese eventing rider in Olympic history and also the youngest person to compete in his chosen field at the Games. Since then, Hua Tian has also represented China at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics and was awarded both a bronze and a silver medal at two different Asian Games. In this podcast, Hua Tian talks candidly about his dual-heritage upbringing and how it has shaped who he is today.

Show notes

Alex Hua Tian's love of horses began when he and his brother used to accompany his mum to the stables in Beijing and that has developed into a lifelong "addiction" to the graceful animals. He says that every competitive rider is in search of that elusive "perfect moment of harmony" with their horse. In this podcast, Hua Tian explains that apart from having his sights set on the Paris Olympics in 2024 and hopefully winning some other medals along the way, he has other aspirations too. He wants to ensure that more children in China have access to ponies and horses and to increase the profile of the equestrian industry there. Apart from Hua Tian's insightful anecdotes about his life and career, we also hear from some of his family, friends and industry experts. Hua Tian says that just as he has to build a unique relationship with each of his horses,  so do countries, such as the UK and China, need to continue to build bridges too.

Presenter: Louise Greenwood

Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns

Producers: Sarah Parfitt, Luo Chen

Sound Editor: Terry Wilson

Bridge Builders Series Editor: Guo Chun

Frances Wood was born into a family of linguists – people who loved studying foreign languages. In her childhood and teens she mastered French and Spanish, so by the time she was thinking about what she wanted to study at university she was looking for a new challenge. She chose Chinese at Cambridge and in 1971 following her graduation, she was able to visit China with the first British youth delegation allowed to enter the country for a long time.

When Wood returned to the UK she got a job in the library at SOAS – the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She found it wonderful to be surrounded by students and teachers speaking Chinese and being able to choose books about China to equip the library. But Wood was still keen to improve her Chinese spoken language so she returned to China in 1975 on a British Council scholarship for a year.

The pinnacle of her career was to restore the Diamond Sutra. In 1900 a walled-in enclosure was excavated by Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist monk who had long been a custodian of a cave complex in Dunhuang and the treasures contained within them. Inside were thousands of priceless manuscripts dating from the early days of Chinese Buddhism. To fund the restoration, Wang sold some of the manuscripts to foreign scholars. Thousands were brought back to London by an archaeologist called Aurel Stein in 1907, including the Diamond Sutra – an incredible scroll described as the world’s earliest printed book. This remarkable manuscript and the other treasures taken from the caves would keep Wood busy for a large part of her career.

Presenter: Louise Greenwood
Diamond Sutra extract read by Quan Chenchen

Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns

Producers: Alice Castle, Sun Lan

Sound Editor: Terry Wilson

Bridge Builders Series Editor: Guo Chun

For more than 40 years, Michael Wood has brought history alive for viewers and readers all over the world. His recent Story of China films and documentary on Chinese poet Du Fu have charmed Chinese and international audiences alike – making him a household name in China. 

Michael Wood’s books and TV documentaries span many different periods of the past – from the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great to the Dark Ages in England and the Conquistadors in South America. In the Story of India, and later the Story of China, he tackled the intriguing and incredible histories of the world’s two most populous nations. In six 60-minute films, Wood took on the task of bringing the Story of China to a western audience, and in the process charmed viewers in what the Chinese call the great Middle Kingdom itself.

Wood’s Story of China series was first shown on British TV in 2016. It chronicled the rise and fall of the great Chinese dynasties: the emperors, poets and philosophers who shaped Chinese culture. He also spoke to people today about their family histories – as Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester, Wood is particularly interested in the everyday lives of people in the past

Wood's film about China's greatest poet: Du Fu was shown on British TV in 2020 and was also a huge success in China. What's incredible is how few people outside China are familiar with Du Fu's work. The poet lived in the eighth century and travelled extensively round the country writing poems not only about the epic battles of the time but about life, family and food. With poetry read by Jamie Owen, Wood tells Du Fu's incredible story from privileged and gifted child to a mixed life of adventure, destitution and humility as he experiences a country ravaged by war and famine. 

What is it for Wood that makes Du Fu such a cherished poet many centuries later?

Presenter: Louise Greenwood

Bing Ma Yong (Terracotta army) soldier read by Yubin Du

Du Fu poetry read by Jamie Owen

Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns

Producers: Alice Castle, Sun Lan

Sound Editor: Terry Wilson

Bridge Builders Series Editor: Guo Chun

Seventy years ago, a small group of British businessmen and women traveled to China to unlock opportunities between the countries – they became known as the icebreakers. Jack Perry was one of the original Icebreakers. Growing up the son of poor Jewish immigrants in the devastating years before World War II, he was inspired to help China rebuild itself and fight poverty by encouraging international trade.  

Stephen Perry grew up watching his father’s relationship with China grow and was inspired to join him in the 1970s when China was almost entirely an agricultural economy. Stephen was part of a deal that sold the first commodities from America to China; he witnessed ‘opening up’ and China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation. Stephen was also keen to improve cultural relations, bringing British football teams and musicals to China and encouraging musicals such as The Red Lantern to travel to the UK.

We also hear from Rana Mitter, a historian specializing in the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford, on the incredible devastation wrought on China in the years preceding Jack Perry’s arrival; and we hear from Professor Liu Baocheng from the Beijing University of International Business and Economics, who grew up in China – working with Jack and Stephen Perry in international trade in the 1980s.

Presenter: Louise Greenwood

Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns

Producers: Elizabeth Mearns, Louise Greenwood

Sound Editor: Terry Wilson

Bridge Builders Series Editor: Guo Chun

In this podcast, we meet the Guo family – presented by son and London-based vlogger Toto, who describes himself as "a child of two heritages'. His father Guo Yi grew up in a musical family in China and is a renowned sheng musician and his British mother Manda is a professional garden designer. As Toto says, "Yuanfen" or fate brought his parents together in the 1980s when Manda spotted Yi busking at South Kensington tube station. Despite obstacles arising from their vastly different cultures and backgrounds, love conquered all. During the pandemic, the Guo family launched a very successful YouTube channel, partly to document their own remarkable story and partly to bridge the gap between the two different cultures. 

Toto is incredibly proud of his mixed-heritage upbringing and has embraced both cultures wholeheartedly. He says that, as with all of us, there have been some challenges in his life, but that has made him more resilient and innovative.

However, his parents are not only from different cultures but very different life experiences. As a young child, his father Guo Yi's playground was the haphazard maze of narrow old alleys in Beijing known as hutongs and he was incredibly inspired by the music in his home. Then, in the early 1970s, Guo Yi joined the prestigious Beijing Film Orchestra before then embarking on a new life in the UK and shortly afterwards, going on tour internationally with WOMAD. He also played the sheng for film soundtracks, such as David Puttnam's "The Killing Fields" and "Apocalypto". However, it was meeting and falling in love with Toto's mother, Manda, which was the real turning-point in his life – and then Toto's arrival in 1992.

Series Producer: Elizabeth Mearns

Producer: Sarah Parfitt

Sound Editor: Terry Wilson

Bridge Builders Series Editor: Guo Chun