Crossing cultures and continents
Dec 6 2008 by Nicholas Craig, The Journal
I HAD an extraordinary 24 hours recently involving the full pomp of old English tradition, swiftly followed by a Chinese event of equal splendour.
As Under-Sheriff, I attended the Proclamation ceremony at the Lord Chief Justice’s Court. Under-Sheriffs have been around for over 1000 years, at first helping High Sheriffs collect taxes, hunt criminals, raise armies and play a big part in trials and executions. Until the death penalty was abolished we also had to witness hangings.
My role nowadays is far less gory and much more ceremonial. The Proclamation ceremony is an annual event at which prospective High Sheriffs for each county are nominated.
We carry out such ceremonies with all the confidence and circumstance of the eccentric English at their best. The splendid setting and extraordinary garb of the Lords of the Council make it an unforgettable event.
Swiftly moving across London that afternoon I attended a formal reception hosted by the Chinese Ambassador, called the “Ice-Breakers”. It celebrates the 48 companies in the 1950s that made the first ice-breaking trip to China to begin business exchanges between the two countries.
Ambassador Fu Ying recalled that one of the men in that first trip took 11 days to reach Beijing from London in 1953. It took his son nine hours to do the same trip today.
The event’s warm welcome masked the meticulous organisation that made it a significant success. Protocol is critically important to Chinese social and business life – more so than it is to most 21st century British people.
My business meetings in China have a rigorous regard for ranking, with the most senior Chinese representative facing the main guest across the table. All others present are seated according to their status.
Great care is taken in the detailed preparation of these meetings, and scrupulous plans underline the value of the occasion. Chinese generally consider relationships, rankings and etiquette very significant.
It harks back to an England in which manners, structure and protocol were of utmost value. Business meetings here are now much more relaxed, but as that day’s two events proved, they can lose impressiveness as a result.
I am now on my way to another fast-growing economy which has very recently suffered some dreadful atrocities, India, to visit a client in Delhi before moving to the south of the country for a week. I’ll update you next week.
Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton law firm
