Today I have submitted my PhD thesis: "Fool’s Gold?: Sino-British Elites and the ‘Golden Era’ of Relations"😅. The study brings an investigative research approach to three case studies and the interconnections between them. Each case study produced genuinely revelatory findings. 
The Freedom of Information requests, targeted dual language background checks, & inter-case connections appear to demonstrate coordinated party-state activity in the UK, including targeting of high profile political figures, influence over APPGs, & commercial entity compromise.
The study demonstrates linkages between actors connected to PRC involvement in UK civil nuclear energy, renminbi internationalisation in the City of London, and PRC linked acquisition of high value properties in London.
In the study, I repurpose frameworks from elite theory to categorise relationships between specific PRC and UK elite groups. I also create a device by which to assist in discerning the nature of elite linkages - a RAMSI Octagram.
The thesis includes many potentially troubling, sensitive revelations, both in terms of Chinese party-state activity within the UK, and western commercial entity behaviour. Given the nature of the findings, the university will at first put the thesis under a public embargo.
The final two chapters explore the possible reasons for the phenomena uncovered, demonstrating the influence of financialisation & capitalisation on the nature of interaction in the global landscape, including within organisations by which we generate and perceive that landscape.
The final section proposes some original and bold solutions to the problems uncovered. I believe many of the findings are applicable not only to the UK but also comparable countries. It's been a long project and a list of thank yous will follow.
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