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2024-12-31-accounts

2024 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTS

Registered Office: 15a Napoleon Road, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 3EW Registered Charity No. 294651, Registered Company 876179 (to 24 January 2024) Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) number 294651 (from 24 January 2024)

The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) is a voluntary, non-profit, people-topeople organisation that has been dedicated to promoting understanding and friendship between the peoples of the UK and China since our founding, by Dr. Joseph Needham and others, in 1965. SACU is a member-based organisation. We have no political affiliations and are open to all who subscribe to our aims.

Our mission

SACU’s mission is to promote understanding and advance the education of the UK public in all aspects of China and the Chinese People by:

Understanding for a purpose

SACU also has a role in helping to support people from China making their way in the UK as students and workers, with friendship and understanding as well as education in all aspects of living in UK.

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Table of Contents

Chair’s Report for 2024 (Chris Nash) ................................................................................... 3 Executive Committee ......................................................................................................... 5 Public Education & Cooperation with External Partners ..................................................... 7 SACU Publications .............................................................................................................. 9 Digital Media ................................................................................................................... 11 Council of Management and Executive Committee as of June 2025 .................................. 12 SACU Annual Accounts ..................................................................................................... 13

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Chair’s Report for 2024 (Chris Nash)

SACU has made further progress with our organisation this year, working to interest and attract new recruits to our cause, which is simply to offer our British friends the opportunity to 作退一步想 – ‘zuò tuì yī bù xiăng’ – that is, to take a step back and re-consider their thinking about China. We warmly welcome every new member to our SACU community and hope that they find their time with us interesting and meaningful. Above all we are a listening community and sincerely look forward to each and every contribution our members, new and old, make to our collective thinking.

At the same time as moving forward with our membership, this year in a variety of different ways, SACU has paid attention to deeper, recurring patterns of building bridges between China and Britain. One of these is the arts, music in particular. In July 2024 on behalf of SACU, I attended an event organised by UK Chinese Music and the London Youlan Qin Society which took place at Holy Sepulchre, London. The music was profound, inspirational and moving, but just as impressive was the diversity of the audience, people from across London’s rich mix of community ties, all held rapt by the sound of the pipa, the guqin, the erhu and the guzheng. Events such as this clearly remind us of the need to continue to cultivate cultural connections if we are to reach out to wider and wider audiences, especially perhaps to younger generations.

Going into 2025, SACU will be working to bring friendships of the past between Britain and China back to light. 2025 is a year of historic anniversaries: the ending of the Chinese People’s War against Japanese Aggression (World War 2 as we would call it); the heroic and tragic death of George Hogg in Shandan, Gansu Province and the founding of SACU herself in May 1965. It is worth reminding ourselves of a few details from the life of George Hogg to show how friendship and compassion are stronger that borders and hostility. George arrived in Shanghai in 1938, on what was meant to be a two-day visit. He was a graduate in Economics from Oxford University and could have easily opted for a comfortable life. Instead, appalled by the brutality of the Japanese Imperial Army’s invasion of China, he dedicated the remaining seven years of his life to support for the Chinese people. At one point he was even deported from China by the Japanese but chose to sneak back in and take up his efforts again. He is remembered as a hero in China for his courage and compassion in setting up a school for orphans. The school was first opened in Shaanxi Province but was forced to relocate to Shandan, in Gansu Province, a gruelling journey of over 600 miles. As part of the commemorative events this year SACU members and others will follow in the footsteps of George Hogg, to bring his sacrifices and solidarity with the Chinese people back to light. The event will be the perfect introduction to the celebrations planned for SACU herself later in the year.

The work of our organisation touches on these deeper patterns in history. I would argue that this sustainable, long-term perspective on history, learned from Chinese thinking, is of utmost importance in facing the challenges of the current moment. The long view of history shows us that nationalism and ‘me first’ thinking might lead to short-term gains, but never to long-term gains of stability and civilisation. The long-term perspective reminds us that it is the stories of self-sacrifice and compassionate friendship that long outlive the brutal but short narratives of hate and fear. China’s President Xi has spoken of the need for a global community with ‘a shared future for humanity’, emphasising the importance of the values of co-operation and mutual respect. As we enter the Year of the Snake, with the snake as a symbol of casting off the old and self-renewal, I am

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sure SACU members and our wider supporters will recommit to an Anglo-Chinese understanding of working together for a harmonious world.

蛇年快乐，吉祥如意，幸福安康！

Shénián kuàilè, jíxiáng rúyì, xìngfú ānkāng!

Happy New Year of the Snake, I hope your wishes come true and that you live in happiness and good health!

Chris Nash, January 2025.

Chris Nash resigned as SACU Chair in December 2024 .

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Executive Committee

In 2024 the Executive Committee consisted of: Chris Nash (to December 2024), Jacob Holliday (to September 2024), Chunbin ZHAO, Zoë Reed, Ros Wong Antrobus, and Cheryl Yu (from November 2024).

SACU Council met regularly at quarterly intervals. The Executive Committee met in between Council meetings to implement the decisions of SACU Council.

On 24 January 2024 SACU was converted to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, with the assistance of Andrew Hicks (Council) and Ward Hadaway LLP (Solicitors). SACU is no longer a limited company. This conversion to a CIO offers SACU several benefits, including limited liability for trustees, a separate legal identity, and streamlined regulation with only the Charity Commission, reducing bureaucratic burdens on us as a small charity.

Secretary (Cheryl Yu)

Since taking over the role of Secretary of SACU towards the end of 2024, I have only been amazed and encouraged repeatedly by the significant role that SACU founders and members have played in bridging the understanding gap and differences between the people of China and Britain, from history till today. As a charitable organisation, the personal commitment of SACU Council members and Executive members of their personal time, experience and subject expertise, has constantly challenged and reminded me of the value everyone plays in continuing this organisation of social value, cultural significance and global dialogue. Everyone deserves to be commended. Of course, as a charitable organisation, it would not be possible without our members, who are passionate about and support our joint commitment.

My role in supporting SACU lies in the administrative support to organise the Council meetings and contributing to the SACU Executive. As being new to SACU, it took me a while to familiarise myself with the busy but exciting planning for the 60[th] anniversary preparation with activities running throughout the year.

But the immediate observation that I had since joining SACU was to understand SACU’s positioning and the appropriate promotions to reach the right audience and its impact. In addition, the lack of real man and woman power in supporting event organisation is visible. We are actively looking for volunteers from our members. In addition, as someone with some limited experience in organising online events, I volunteered to offer administrative support for SACU educational public talks.

It took some time, but we have opened the SACU LinkedIn account, which we aim to reach out to a wider audience who are active in the Sino-British relationship and friendship. Our members’ active engagement with our activities is a testament to our commitment to the relationship and friendship between the people of Britain and China.

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Treasurer (ZHAO Chunbin)

SACU’s primary stream of income is derived from membership subscriptions, supplemented by occasional one-time donations. This more than covers SACU’s normal operational costs. SACU’s main recurring costs are the publication of the China Eye magazine, license fees for hosting online events, and venue-hire fees for AGMs and other in-person events.

This year’s surplus of £4,979, along with dedicated funding for the essay competition and support from Peking university for the Archive project, reflects the charity’s strong financial position and growing recognition. We are well-positioned to expand our impact, enhance our programs, and continue making a meaningful difference in the community.

Another income stream is Gift Aid. Thanks are due to Jane Hadley (Vice President) who successfully claimed Gift Aid for 2024, resulting in over £600 credited by HMRC Charities.

A more detailed breakdown of SACU’s finances can be found in the Annual Accounts at the end of this AGM report.

Membership Secretary’s Report (Ros Wong Antrobus)

SACU welcomed 40 new members in 2024. After accounting for lapsed and resigned memberships, this was a slight decrease in membership, down to 288 members by December 2024 (293 in December 2023). A lower rate of new memberships was noticeable in the second half of the year when a lack of resources meant that we held fewer public-facing events, but memberships did pick up again towards the end of the year.

We offer a year’s complimentary membership to all our student Essay Competition entrants, and to outside speakers and panellists. We were delighted to welcome Dr Katherine Ngo and Claire Yu Hao after their presentations at our AGM in June.

Our largest categories of membership are ‘Individual’ and ‘Retired/Unwaged’ which together, in equal numbers, make up three quarters of our membership. The remaining categories of paid membership are: ‘Institution/Library’, ‘Student’, and ‘Overseas’ ( China Eye in either pdf or printed format). Several complimentary memberships make up our total membership.

Most of our members are based in the UK (254) but membership is open worldwide. We have several members based in China (15) and other parts of the world (19), including several European countries, USA, Canada, Australia, India, Laos and Malaysia.

We ask new members where they heard about SACU. New members this year told us they heard of us by personal contact (including ‘Word of mouth’ or ‘SACU event’) or by digital means (including ‘Internet search’ or ‘Facebook’) in equal numbers. As in previous years this suggests SACU must continue to promote itself by both digital means and face-to-face contact.

New members expressed a wide range of interests in China and reasons for joining SACU. We have now started to ask their occupation on the online application form to help get to know our members better.

I would like to thank our members for continuing to support SACU. Many members include a donation with their subscription renewals. As SACU exists on subscriptions and donations only, their generous gifts are much appreciated, and all income goes towards supporting SACU’s mission.

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Public Education & Cooperation with External Partners

One of SACU’s core objectives is to improve the British people’s understanding of China. We promote this goal by organising SACU speaker events and seminars, by collaborating with external partners, and through the Speakers’ Bureau, which arranges to send speakers to British schools.

Partnerships (Iris Yau)

It has been a remarkably productive, fruitful and successful 18-months for my work to re-connect and introduce SACU with like-minded organisations and individuals in both British and Chinese communities, arts higher education and the creative industry.

Last year, I visited and discussed potential collaboration with John Moffett at the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge. I had a fruitful meeting with Harpenden and District Local History Society (HDLHS), St George’s School in Hertfordshire as well as conducted further research work at Bodleian Libraries in Oxford for The Story of George Aylwin Hogg exhibition. As a result, key members of HDLHS have joined SACU and some of them have gone on the George Hogg tour in China with Mark Aylwin Thomas et al., in April this year - a long overdue permanent exhibition about the legacy of George Hogg is finally happening at Harpenden Museum in 2025!

Prof Hugo de Burgh (Founder/Chair of Kensington Wade) has also joined SACU, and Major Brian Finch will give a talk about The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru for SACU around the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan in WW2 (VJ80th) in August this year.

SACU has gained further publicity via my Mission in Manchester aka exhibition ‘Infamous: Opium, Silk. Tea and the Mission’ (Manchester Culture Awards Finalist 2024), and we have had many delicious SACU meals and meaningful gatherings in the North and South of England.

Apart from those notably core events in SACU partnership calendar - Lau China Institute/Kings College London China Week Opening and Closing events (October); Lay a wreath on behalf of SACU to honour the Chinese Labour Corps in Whitehall on Armistice Day (November); Friends of Socialist China Year-end celebration (December). I have also taken the opportunity to promote SACU via numerous events I was invited to and attended in my personal capacity, for example: The Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’ s Republic of China hosted by H.E. Ambassador ZHENG Zeguang and Madam HUA Mei; In conversation with DONG Xi ~~In~~ organised by Sinoist Books. The ‘C’ words: Being Chinese in Britain organised by The Meridian Society. The EAST -WEST DIALOGUE (Sino-British Concert); Special Screening for The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru hosted by the Chinese Embassy UK; ‘The Mission’: Behind-the-Scenes with the Curator organised by Westminster City Libraries and Archives. Club Ming-Ai Launch organised by Ming-Ai London Institute/British Chinese Heritage Centre; Spring Festival for the Year of the

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Snake celebration at Westminster City Hall jointly hosted by Chinatown Collective London, Chinese Information and Advice Centre, London Chinese Community Centre and The Meridian Society, Haha! Britain book launch at the British Library organised by The Mother’s bridge of Love and other significant events.

Public Education (Barnaby Powell)

Much progress has been achieved in organizing a series of online talks for a public audience to raise our profile and an awareness of China in celebration of SACU's 60[th] anniversary year. Several SACU members with experience of living and working in China have agreed to give presentations on subjects as varied as Joseph Needham - one of the founders of SACU and author of 'Science and Civilization in China', George Hogg, who set up a school in China and led his pupils to safety during the civil war, Chinese Classical Music and the Friends' Ambulance Unit.

In addition, SACU has reached agreement with BACS (The British Association for Chinese Studies) to offer China presentations to schools which are members of the Mandarin Excellence Programme to complement their language study with background talks on Chinese history and culture.

Essay Competition (WANG Fang)

The 2024-2025 PKU-SACU essay/art competition has been launched with two topics since it is a big year for SACU, and we look forward to some essays about SACU history, if possible:

1. How do you see the contribution of SACU and its significance to us today?

Besides the competition, 2024 was the first year that SACU and PKU offered an opportunity to the competition prize winners in the past to have a research project in China. The project aims to encourage the winners to have a further exploration of China or China-UK relations by going to China themselves. Two students have won financial support from SACU and PKU for their research trip to China. We look forward to their research essay in October 2025.

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SACU Publications

China Eye (Walter Fung)

Relations between the UK and China are improving as the commercial realities are becoming apparent, but the British press still tends to concentrate on negative aspects of China. China Eye has continued to balance this coverage with more positive news about China, pointing out the country’s achievements, especially those which contribute to the progress of underdeveloped countries and China’s contribution to combating climate change, especially green energy.

China Eye articles have dealt with a wide range of historical, cultural and touristic subjects, attempting to focus on the Chinese viewpoint. I am always grateful to the authors of articles, which are the lifeblood of China Eye, and encourage members to send in articles on any aspect of China and Chinese culture.

We continue to publish a number of Chinese-language articles. Special thanks to Iris Yau, Dr SUN Yong and Jiaxi Li for their support. In addition, Jiaxi Li has translated some articles from Chinese to English. Iris Yau in particular, has sent in reports, including photographs of SACU events or events which SACU members attended.

China Eye has been enriched by contributions from many new authors and contributors, both Chinese and British. These include Hanxin Yang, John Ham, Geo Ying, Lan (Coco) Shi, David Berry, Vivian Ni, Iain Leighton, Gerard Tierney, Gu Hongyan, Christy Leung, SHI Yichao, XING Yi, and ZONG Weian.

Also, many thanks are due to the regular contributors Jacqueline Buksh, James De Burgh, Andrew Hicks, Barnaby Powell, Zoë Reed, Rob Stallard, Ros Wong Antrobus, and XU Minji.

Keith Bennett has continued to send in hyperlinks to important news items, Jiaxi has prepared the PDF for the printers. I am very grateful for these valuable contributions, and indeed to everyone who has helped in some way over the past year.

SACU Newsletter Report (Yichao Shi)

The monthly newsletter is circulated to all members by email. It promotes SACU events, forthcoming China-related events organised by SACU partners and other organisations, and selected, relevant articles in the media. It also carries news of SACU members and notices of opportunities for SACU members to get involved in SACU’s work in various capacities.

All members are welcome to contribute recent articles. We thank several members for their contributions, especially Keith Bennett for sending in links to articles in the media every month.

I started as editor from March 2024, for the first few issues I was supported by Ros which I am thankful. Following this, Ros and Iris continued to support as proof-readers which I appreciate. As well as the editor’s work in compiling the content, there is technical work in adding the items to Mailchimp ready for circulation.

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SACU Archives (LI Linxi)

Our Archive Project has been going smoothly in its second phase this year. With Peking University’s generous support, we not only digitised the remaining photos, but also covered the cost of the remaining six-years annual license on the TownsWeb platform, securing our ambition to make the Archives permanently preserved digitally and available to all our members, as well as potentially the wider public and academic researchers.

To respond to our members’ concerns, we worked out a “Report to SACU Council” about an update on the Archive Project in April 2024. In the “Visitor’s information of SACU Archive Database” part, it shows that we have had 534 users, from 43 countries/regions. More than 60% of users accessed from direct search, with a primary interest focused on photo cards rather than magazines or documents. There was a peak of 22 new users on 24 Jan 2023 (right after its release via Newsletter), and 106 of the 534 are returning users.

We have received more inquiries about the Archives internationally this year, which are: a PhD student from Heidelberg University for his dissertation, a college staff for a project on the work of Anthony Crosland, a senior researcher from Soong Ching Ling Mausoleum in Shanghai for research on Joseph Needham and Madam Soong, and a professor from Shanghai Jiaotong University for her research on Iris Murdoch. In responding to these inquires, we have set up an effective workflow between Ros, Zoe, Frances, Fang and Linxi.

There were also some problems emerging. 1) We need to face and solve the problems caused by a lack of legal assistance. In 2024, Bonhams was going to auction a valuable calligraphic inscription which once belonged to us decades ago, PicRights claimed our “unlicensed use of AFP photos” which seems unreasonable. 2) We need to think about where to locate the physical materials donated by our members. There will be more members’ donations in future and a possible collaboration with NRI or other parties on collecting-preserving-digitising is highly necessary.

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Digital Media

Facebook Manager and China Eye Assistant (Jiaxi Li)

Thanks to many members who sent me links to different events, I have been sharing online and offline events organised by SACU as well as SACU’s partners on Facebook. Many news articles from China Daily and Sixth Tone that were shared with me have been posted as well.

At the moment, SACU Facebook page has 579 followers and in the last 28 days, our posts had more than 2600 views on the Internet. The increase in number of views and followers is slow but steady.

Events in the London have reached the highest numbers of Internet users. For example, the EastWest Dialogue Concert reached more than 600 people on Facebook. We have also helped other organisations promote their events such as new book launches and talks and gained more than 200 views.

More importantly, SACU public talk series has reached more than 500 people in total. We could expect that more SACU talks will attract more subscriptions to SACU membership and to SACU’s social media pages.

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Council of Management and Executive Committee as of May 2025

The council meets four times a year and is responsible for setting overall policy direction and ensuring that SACU activities are in line with our mission and principles.

The Executive Committee are Council members with special responsibility for ensuring that decisions taken at Council are implemented.

President and Vice Presidents

Michael Wood President Jenny Clegg Vice President Jane Hadley Vice President Rob Stallard Vice President Frances Wood Vice President Walter Fung Vice President ( China Eye Editor; VP from June 2024)

Executive Committee

Zoë Reed SACU Council Cheryl Yu Secretary Ros Wong Antrobus Membership Secretary

Other Council Members

Andrew Hicks CIO advisor and constitution Pete Jarvis Website Manager LI Linxi SACU Archivist Barnaby Powell Speakers’ Bureau WANG Fang Essay competition Iris Ching Man Yau External Partnerships Li Jiaxi Facebook Manager and China Eye Assistant Yichao Shi Membership Newsletter Flo Kenna Supernumerary Council member

Former Council members

Jacob Holliday Secretary (resigned September 2024 to relocate to Australia) Chris Nash SACU Chair (resigned December 2024) Chunbin ZHAO Treasurer (resigned February 2025)

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SACU Annual Accounts

Annual Accounts

Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding Ltd.

Registered Charity No. 294651, Registered Company 876179 (to 24 January 2024) Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) number 294651 (from 24 January 2024)

BALANCE SHEET AS OF 31ST DECEMBER 2024

2023 2024 2024
FIXED ASSETS
0 Net written down value 0
CURRENT ASSETS
24292 Balance at Bank 27872
(see note 1)
LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES
0 Deferred Income to 2024 0
24292 SURPLUS OF CURRENT ASSETS OVER LIABILTIES 29272
REPRESENTED BY:
28859 ACCUMULATED FUND BROUGHT FORWARD 24292
-4567 SURPLUS FOR THE CURRENT YEAR 4979
£24292 ACCUMULATED FUND AT THE END OF YEAR £29272

Note 1. Current account £19,903.95, Savings account £7968.1, PayPal £1398.6

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PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31st DECEMBER 2024.

2023 2024

INCOME
4865 Membership subscriptions 4631 (see note 2)
0 Donations/Fundraising 0
0 Essay Competition Fund 4000
2844 Other 1637 (see note 3)

£7709 £10268

EXPENDITURE
3462 AGM & COUNCIL Expenditure and Administration 540
2568 China Eye printing & postage
2604
698 Website/Online Events/Social Media
268
0 Essay Competition
1617
4528 Archiving Project
0 (see note 4)
1020 CIO Conversion
0 (see note 5)
0 Other 260_(see note 6)_
£12276 £5289
£-4567 NET SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR £4979

Note 2. Comprises membership income received across Co-op and PayPal and includes a number of discretionary donations received alongside membership payments which it is not possible to be separate for the purposes of reporting.

Note 3. Comprises account credits, saving account’s interest rate and HRMC Charities credit.

Note 4. Line item added from 2022 onwards following commencement of SACU digital archive project. Peking University has confirmed to continue funding for the rest of the years.

Note 5. Payment made to Ward Hadaway LLP for the CIO conversion process.

Note 6. Comprises overpayment refund, gift aid posting and Membermojo invoice.

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