On Monday 10 July 2006 Sir Christopher Hum KCMG, recently returned from China after nearly four years as British Ambassador in China, will speak on "China as a Global Actor". Tea and coffe will be served from 10.00 am and the talk will begin at 10.30 am. A Q&A session will follow at 11.15 amd and the meeting will conclude at 12.00 noon.
This event will be exclusively for Corporate and Institutional Members of the IISS and a few Special Guests.
Christopher Hum was born on 27 January 1946 and educated at Pembroke College Cambridge, where he graduated with First Class Honours and is now an Honorary Fellow. He joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1967 and in 1968 was posted to Hong Kong to study Mandarin Chinese at Hong Kong University.
Some eighteen years of his diplomatic career were spent working in or on China, culminating in his time as British Ambassador in Beijing (2002-2005). He was also closely involved in the negotiations in the 1980s and 1990s which led to the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Other diplomatic postings were in Brussels (European Communities), Paris, New York (United Nations) and Warsaw (as Ambassador, 1996-1998). He was knighted in 2003.
In January 2006, on retirement from the Diplomatic Service, Christopher Hum was elected Master of Gonville and Caius College Cambridge. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the China Policy Institute in the University of Nottingham, and of the Executive Committee of the Great Britain – China Centre.
Events take place on the Fifth floor at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
