The 'C' Word: Being Chinese In Britain Today

This is an in-person only event in the British Library Pigott Theatre. 
 
Sinophobia is sadly not a thing of the past. Dating from the 19th century, when groundless fears of the Yellow Peril prevailed, it has been rearing its ugly head since the recent COVID-19 pandemic - and the Chinese community has borne the brunt of it.  
 
This event explores the question of identity with different generations of British Chinese: how they have been perceived historically, how they see themselves in present-day society, and what their hopes and expectations are for the future. Join our panels of writers, journalists, community activists, artists, academics and others, for a lively evening of conversation, thought-provoking discussion and personal stories.
 
Eddie Chan is a founding member of London Chinese Community Network and the Chinese Welfare Trust. He was Director of the Chinese National Healthy Living Centre from February 2019 and chaired the BME Health Forum in London for nine years. 

Chung Min Pang grew up in Calcutta, India, and Liverpool, two of the oldest Chinatowns in Asia and Europe, respectively. Shortly after completing his university studies in Britain, he worked as an economist at the Ministry of Agriculture in Beijing during the start of China’s reform programme, followed by the World Bank, which took him to numerous developing countries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia.

Lucy Sheen is an actor, published writer and playwright, filmmaker and activist. She is a transracial adoptee from colonial Hong Kong and is of mixed heritage. She was the lead role in the feature film Ping Pong and continues to work on stage and screen. 
 
Xinran is a well-known journalist and the radio host of Words on the Night Breeze in Beijing.  Xinran has established herself here as a writer.  Her international bestseller, The Good Women of China, was based on interviews from her radio programme. Xinran founded Mothers’ Bridge of Love (MBL)  to reach out to and enrich the lives of adopted Chinese children. 
  
Dr Anne Witchard is Reader in English Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster.  She has published widely in the area of China Studies and Modernism. Her current work focuses on transnational circuits of exchange and modernist performance. 
 
Yan Wang Preston is a prize-winning photographer interested in landscape, identity, migration, and the environment. Her new work ‘After Olympia - A Self-Portrait’ is currently on show at the National Portrait Gallery. 

Ken Cheng is a stand-up comedian, writer, and professional poker player.? He studied mathematics at Cambridge University, directing The Footlights International Tour Show 2015: Love Handles. He first burst onto the comedy scene after reaching the final of the 2015 BBC New Comedy Award and has since written and starred in his own BBC Radio 4 show, Chinese Comedian, which won a BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Comedy in 2023.
 
Ben Chu is Policy and Analysis Correspondent at BBC Verify. Previously, he was the Economics Editor of Newsnight. His first book Chinese Whispers: Why everything you’ve heard about China is wrong?was published in 2013 and nominated for International Affairs Book of the Year at the Paddy Power Political Book Awards.?Ben was born in Manchester to a Chinese father and British mother.
 
Geoff Leong, an Architecture graduate, decided to return to the family catering business, where he contributed to the transformation of traditional Chinese cuisine to fine dining. In 2020, he co-founded the Campaign Against Racism Group to combat hate crimes targeting Asian communities. 
 
Wenlan Peng was born in India, raised in England and read French and German at university before going to China, where she became the first foreign national to appear on Chinese television. Since returning to Britain, she has been making documentary films about China and co-founded The Meridian Society, of which she remains a trustee/director. 

In association with The Merdian Society  
The Meridian Society is a London-based charitable organisation committed to promoting Chinese culture and encouraging dialogue between people of Chinese heritage and other ethnicities with the aim of fostering East-West understanding. http://themeridiansociety.org/ 
 
Half price tickets available for Members, Students, Under 26 and other concession groups.  
Doors and Bar open at 19:00.  Please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event.  

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