A New Beginning or More of the Same? The European Union and East Asia After Brexit

 

The EU’s interest in and engagement with North East Asia has grown massively over the last three decades, the shaping and implementation of its policy influenced heavily by the UK and its historical links with East Asia. Brexit therefore raises questions about the future of this engagement and comes against a background of wider threats to the liberal world order, especially rising tensions between the USA and China. Worried that they may be forced to choose sides in their hitherto carefully managed relationships with the two, China’s neighbours are therefore watching with interest to see how the EU and the UK respond and manage their future relations with the region. This book goes beyond the traditional trade links to consider diplomatic and security perspectives, as well as wider issues such as the possible impact on educational and research links. It will be of interest to diplomats, scholars, and economists.

 

The Great Free Trade Myth: British Foreign Policy and East Asia Since 1980

 

This book is based on the author’s experience as a British diplomat and scholar working in East Asia for much of the period since 1980. It seeks to challenge widely held views in Britain about the nature of our relations with countries in East Asia, especially in respect of trade. It does so by looking at case studies, or specific incidents in diplomatic relations, not academic theory, using examples that have hitherto received little or no attention. While it is aimed at general readers who may have an interest in the broad subject, it should also be of great value to academics and scholars.

 

We do hope you will be able to join us.

 

Michael Reilly

 Michael Reilly has been a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Taiwan Studies Programme in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham since 2015.

 In 2016 and again in 2019 he was concurrently a Visiting Fellow in the Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica in Taipei.

 A former career diplomat with more than 30 years’ experience, most of it handling British policy towards East and South East Asia, his final appointment was as the British Representative in Taiwan from 2005 – 2009. In this position, he persuaded the British government to remove the visa requirement for Taiwanese passport holders. The UK was the first western country to do so and the move brought major commercial and political benefits.

His other postings included two terms in Seoul, Manila, and the UK Delegation to the OECD in Paris.

On leaving the foreign service he joined the aerospace company BAE Systems and went on to open a representative office for the company in China, subsequently serving there from 2011 – 2015. 

 Michael has a Ph.D in Economic History from the University of Liverpool and a diploma in Korean from Yonsei University in Seoul. He has been an Advisory Board member of the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington DC since 2018.

 

His publications include:

 Books


Articles and papers

  • Competitive Nationalism and the EU’s China Strategy, Lau China Institute Policy Paper vol 1, no. 5, 2017
  • Urban electric railway management and operation in Britain and America, 1900-1914, Urban History Yearbook, 1989
  • Promoting the subway: New York’s experience in an international context, 1890 – 1914, Journal of Transport History, 1992
  • Many short articles and blogs of specialist interest in The Diplomat, Global Taiwan Brief, Taiwan Insight and railway media