As I bought my poppy in Sheffield last weekend I was wondering what I would say to welcome to the delegation of Chinese businessmen and investors that were visiting us this week for the Horasis conference. What would they find interesting?
The Chinese have a remarkably deep interest, and also affection, for all things British. It isn't just Downton Abbey and Sherlock that intrigue them. So I wondered, should I explain why we were wearing poppies? Would they find it strange?
But then I thought they might know, or would like to know, that the Sheffield Pals Battalion fought in France with their Chinese Forefathers, because the connection between Sheffield and the people of China goes far deeper than trade.
This may come as a surprise but did you know that fifty thousand Chinese went to the trenches in that “War to end Wars”. The story is beginning to be told in China. The South China Morning Post recently told how Chinese workers dug trenches. They repaired tanks in Normandy. They assembled shells for artillery. They transported munitions in Dannes. They unloaded supplies and war material in the port of Dunkirk. In the Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, alongside stories of our own Sheffield soldiers you will find the badges of the Chinese Labour Corps.
Chinese workers ventured farther afield, too. Graves in Basra, in southern Iraq, contain remains of hundreds of Chinese workers who died carrying water for British troops in an offensive against the Ottoman Empire. Families in China have as their only tributes to lost grandfathers British Medals of Merit stamped with the image of King George.
So as business people from China pass the city war memorial on the way up the steps to the City Hall, that monument is more relevant to their own country than many locals imagine. When on Friday I lay a wreath with the President of our Students' Union at the university memorial to the hundreds of students of our University who volunteered to be part of the Sheffield battalion and who 100 years ago lost their lives in a terrible battle, I will do so knowing that it was not just the young men of South Yorkshire who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The Great Wars continue to shape the way nations see themselves and their futures. Many say that the settlement after WWI laid the economic conditions which were a fertile soil for the rise of fascism in the defeated Germany.
But the implications of that peace agreement had ramifications far beyond Europe. In the aftermath of the First World War, disappointment at the shabby treatment of China in the Versailles negotiations led in 1919 to the May 4th movement of the Chinese students in Beijing. This was part of a long winding path to the foundation of the People's Republic of China.
Now, thank God, we meet under very different circumstances, still seeking the best for our peoples but with those far better tools of education and trade. Today one in ten of Sheffield University's students is from China and the hard work - and it was hard - of their parents and grandparents invested in our university has allowed us to build facilities which train our own engineers, scientists and doctors as well as theirs. We owe these families a huge thank you.
But will our Chinese visitors and do our students know their own stories. Because we know that remembrance is not only s ceremonial act, it requires education and reflection. If we are to remember, we must hear the stories of those who went before and learn the lessons of their lives for our own times.
Perhaps our guests will know better the stories of fighting with our Allies, the Yanks, against the Japanese with the Flying Tiger Squadrons of South West China? Will they make a link between their ancestors and our poppies?
I hope the people of Sheffield who greet our guests will know that without the enormous sacrifice of the Chinese, tens of millions of lives lost, in fighting the Japanese, the war in the Pacific might have gone on much much longer. My own father-in-law, who served in the RAF from 39 to 45, Flying with Bomber command out of Yorkshire from 43 to 45, was damn glad that the War came to and end when it did!
So we, the British and Chinese, together in two World Wars, can honour our fallen together. The poppies are there for all the dead.
But as I lay a wreath with a representative of today's student body, I will not do so mindlessly. That memorial is a reminder not just of valour but of loss. Of the awful pain the mothers felt at the loss of dear sons. When our university book of remembrance was placed in the heart of our community, it was a stark list of familiar names of friends and colleagues.
If you want to imagine how it might have felt to see those names, listen to the voices in the latest BBC documentary describe the painful importance of visiting the Vietnam memorial in Washington. And that feeling is universal. I have stood by the memorial at Tyne Cot, visited Civil War battlefields and paid tribute to the 13,300 servicemen whose names are listed on India Gate in Delhi. At every place I hope that we can leave lessons which will mean my own students from around the world may be spared conflict, may learn together how to solve our disputes in better ways.
So I welcome our Chinese visitors in a spirit of peace and hope, determined to work together for the good of all of our children. True in other times and wars we have fought on opposite sides and seem the awful damage of battle. But now, as President Obama said of the people of USA and Vietnam: "Now we can say something that was once unimaginable: Today, Vietnam and the United States are partners."
Today China is a great power and a peacetime partner of the UK in what we hope will be a new era of working together. Together we face numerous challenges from climate change and sustainable energy to secure food supplies, caring for an ageing population and economic stability. For Sheffield to be home to students from this great nation of over 1.3 billion people and to work with its people for a better future is a tremendous opportunity.
We will only make the most of this though if we see past the stereotypes and superficial differences to what we share in common - the hope for a better, safe and prosperous life for our children. And the knowledge that all of those children are precious.
I am deeply proud that this great city of Sheffield has not only traded with the world over many decades but that it has welcomed young people from around the world to make this place their home for a period as they pursue their education. I hope that in the process we have learned what Edith Cavell told us: “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred of bitterness for anyone."
Our Chinese visitors are welcome. Our ability to trade, to teach and to learn from one another will be crucial to all of our futures.
法兰德斯战场上的谢菲尔德与中国
在中国企业家齐聚谢菲尔德之际，谢菲尔德大学校长凯思•博内特爵士（Sir Keith Burnett）阐述了为何谢菲尔德与中国人民之间的联系远比贸易和金融更为深入。
上周末，当我在谢菲尔德买下虞美人花的时候，我正在构思对前来参加霍瑞西斯会议的中国商务和投资代表团的欢迎词。他们会对什么内容产生兴趣呢？
中国人对英国的一切事物都怀着浓厚的兴趣和好感， 他们好奇的绝不仅是《唐顿庄园》和《神探夏洛克》。所以我思考着：我是不是应该解释一下我们为什么会佩戴虞美人花呢？他们会觉得这很奇怪吗？
转念一想，我觉得他们可能知道，或者想知道，“谢菲尔德好友营”曾与他们的祖先们在法国并肩战斗。谢菲尔德和中国人民之间的关系远比贸易更深远。
这可能会让你感到意外，但你是否知道曾经有五万中国人在那场“结束战争的战争”（第一次世界大战）的战壕里奋战过。这个故事如今已开始在中国报道，《南华早报》近日便报道了当时华工们如何挖掘战壕。不但如此，他们还在诺曼底修理坦克，为炮兵们组装炮弹。他们在丹斯运送弹药，在敦刻尔克港搬卸军火和物资。在伊普尔的法兰德斯战役博物馆陈列着的，除了我们谢菲尔德士兵的事迹，还有中国劳工支队的徽章。在更远的战场上，你仍然能找到中国劳工冒险战斗的身影。 伊拉克南部城市巴士拉的坟墓中，埋葬着数百名华工的遗体，他们在英国军队对奥斯曼帝国的战斗中，为了给英军前线运送水源而献出了宝贵的生命。那印着英国乔治国王肖像的荣誉勋章，是中国家庭所拥有的对他们牺牲祖父们的唯一告慰。
所以，当远道而来的中国企业家们在走向通往市会议厅台阶的路上，经过这座城市的战争纪念碑时，许多当地人很难想象，这座丰碑与这些企业家们的祖国之间竟是如此相关。周五，我将会在大学纪念堂和谢大学生会主席一起为我校谢菲尔德营的学生烈士们敬献花圈。100年前，数百名谢大学生志愿参加谢菲尔德营，并在一场可怕的战斗中壮烈牺牲。我深知做出过伟大牺牲的绝不仅仅只是这些南约克郡的年轻人。
大战依然左右着国家看待自己和未来的方式。许多人说，第一次世界大战后对战败国-德国的经济安排成为了法西斯主义兴起的沃土。
但和平协议的影响范围却远远超出了欧洲。 一战以后，中国民众对在巴黎和会上受到的不公正待遇感到极度失望，由此，中国学生于1919年在北京发起“五四”学生运动。这是中华人民共和国走向成立，漫长而曲折道路上的一个篇章。
如今，感谢上帝，我们两国终于再次相会，所处的时代背景也已今非昔比。我们造福两国人民的初心未改，而实现的途径却远胜当年——那就是教育和贸易。目前谢菲尔德大学的学生有十分之一来自中国，靠着他们的父母和祖父母曾经无比艰苦的奋斗，今天的谢菲尔德大学才能扩地建楼为我们自己——也为他们培养工程师、科学家和医生。我们亏欠这些中国家庭一句大写的感谢。
然而，我不知道我们的中国客人和中国学生是否知道这些他们自己的故事。众所周知，纪念不仅是种仪式，更是教育和反思。如果我们要铭记，就必须聆听前人的故事，学习他们的得失，服务今天的时代。
也许我们的中国客人更了解我们与美军一起组织飞虎队在中国西南对抗日军的故事吧？客人们能把他们的先人和我们的虞美人花之间联系起来吗？
我希望谢菲尔德人民在欢迎中国客人的时候能够了解，如果没有中国的对日作战，没有中国人民以数千万计的牺牲，太平洋战争还可能会持续很久很久。我的岳父自1939年到1945年在英国皇家空军服役，在1943年到1945年之间随轰炸机编队驶出约克郡执行任务。你无法想像当战争结束时，他有多么高兴！
所以，我们英国人和中国人这一对两次世界大战的战友可以一起纪念我们逝去的同胞。这些虞美人花就是为了缅怀所有的死者。
当我和今天的学生会代表一起敬献花圈的时候，我心中会有所念。因为这座纪念碑所纪念的不仅是勇气，更是失去，教我们勿忘母亲在失去亲爱儿子时的那种心碎痛苦。当大学的纪念名册放在我们大学中心时，那残酷名单上所记录的是朋友和同事们熟悉的名字。
如果你想知道看到这些名字是怎样的感受，那就听听BBC最新纪录片中的声音吧，这部纪录片描述了参观华盛顿越战纪念碑感受到的痛苦，描述了缅怀的重要性。这种感受没有国界。我曾驻足于泰恩科特墓园、参观过内战战场遗址，也曾站在刻有13300名阵亡烈士名字的德里印度门前致敬。在每一个地方，我都希望这些教训能被铭记，而铭记这些教训将意味着我那来自世界各地的学生们从此可以避免冲突，可以一起学习如何以更好的方式解决争端。
所以我怀着和平与希望的精神欢迎中国的客人们，决心为了我们下一代的利益而通力合作。 虽然在历史上两国的确曾兵戎相见过，也一同见证了战争造成的可怕灾难。但是现在，正如美国前总统奥巴马向美国和越南人民所说的那样：“如今我们可以说出曾经无法想象的事情：今天，越南和美国是合作伙伴。”
在这个携手并进的新时代里，中国是世界强国，是英国和平时代的重要合作伙伴。我们共同面对众多挑战，从气候变化、可持续能源到安全稳定的粮食供应，从关注人口老龄化到维持经济稳定。谢菲尔德是众多中国留学生的家，我们有无限机遇与这个拥有13亿人口的伟大国家一起共创美好未来。
我们只有不为固有观念和表面上的“异”所蔽目，看到我们的“同”，才能最好地把握这些机会，共同实现更好的未来。我们相同之处在于：为下一代创造更美好、更安全和更繁荣生活的共同希望，以及珍视每一个孩子的共同认识。
我感到无比骄傲的是，谢菲尔德这个伟大的城市不仅数十年来国际贸易成就斐然，而且欢迎世界各地的年轻人到此求学，成为他们求学道路上的温馨家园。我希望在这个过程中我们学到了伊迪丝·卡维尔（Edith Cavell）告诉我们的话：“单单爱国主义是不够的。我不应该对任何人心生怨恨。”
欢迎远道而来的中国客人。我们彼此贸易、教育和互相学习的能力对我们共创未来无比重要！