The Conservative Friends of the Chinese is a membership organization that engages with the British Chinese community on UK - China relations. It is linked to the Conservative Party in the UK and actively campaigns for the Party in the British Chinese community. The group was launched by

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

in May 2013 to an audience of 200 from the community and then followed by an event at No. 11 Downing Street with

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

. Since its formation, the group has organized events by UK Cabinet Ministers to engage the

British Chinese British Chinese (also known as Chinese British or Chinese Britons) are people of Chineseparticularly Han Chineseancestry who reside in the United Kingdom, constituting the second-largest group of Overseas Chinese in Western Europe after France. T ...

community.

Patron

* The Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP

Chairs

* Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Parliamentary Chairman)

Notable members

* Lord Michael Dobbs, the author of

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

, is a board member of the group, as is

Michael Bates, Baron Bates Michael Walton Bates, Baron Bates (born 26 May 1961) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom serving in the House of Lords since 2008 having previously represented the constituency of Langbaurgh in the House of Commons from ...

, whose wife is Chinese. * Alan Mak, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP for

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough (population: 125,000) comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Castl ...

. He, however, has been quoted in the media saying 'he cares little for his ethnic identity, preferring to focus more on the "bigger and more important" issues. He also stated that: "And I certainly have no interest in what people in Hong Kong or China think of me because I am not representing them. I am representing the people of Havant ... '. * Jackson Ng, a former Political Director of the group, is a

Barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and a

political advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

who was the

Party's Parliamentary Candidate for Liverpool Riverside in the May 2015 British General Election and St Helens North for the June 2017 General Election. * Former political directors Johnny Luk and Xinyang Wang.

Sub-groups and sister organizations

The Conservative Friends of the Chinese work closely with other affiliated groups of the Conservative Party, which are listed below. *Conservative Parliamentary China Group *Conservative Friends of the Chinese (London) - Chinese Conservative Group, Mark Field *The Shanghai Blue Club - Conservatives Abroad *The Beijing Blue Club - Conservatives Abroad

References

{{Conservative Party (UK) Organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK) United Kingdom friendship associations China–United Kingdom relations Chinese community in the United Kingdom Diaspora organisations based in London