www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
China / Hot Issues

Ties that offer the best of both worlds

By Ian Morrison (China Daily) Updated: 2016-08-02 08:11

The recent spate of inclement weather in Beijing, the heavy rain and dull cloudy days, couldn't help but remind me of "summer" days in my home country of Britain. As a child, I spent many happy holidays in a town called Berwick-upon-Tweed.

On the coast of the English county of Northumberland, it is near many areas of great beauty, the lovely beaches on the coast, the nearby Holy Island of Lindisfarne and the attractive scenery of the River Tweed.

It is a town noted as much for picturesque location as it is for its history, having changed hands a dozen times between England and Scotland in border wars over the course of 400 years until it finally was retaken by England in 1482.

To this day, Berwick-upon-Tweed (not to be confused with the town of North Berwick in Scotland) retains a special identity. Despite being in England, its soccer and rugby teams - Berwick Rangers and Berwick RFC - play in the Scottish leagues. In addition, although being just over three kilometers south of the border, the tourist souvenirs on sale in the town's shop have a distinctly Scottish flavor.

To me, the unique nature of this town is not an indication of a confused identity, or some sort of battle for its identity between England and Scotland. I think it is more an indication of how the Scottish and English peoples' identities have, to some extent, merged and overlapped through hundreds of years of a shared fate - economically, politically and culturally.

Ties that offer the best of both worlds

Just to the north of Berwick-upon-Tweed there is a "border" between England and Scotland (there always has been, as the two nations have distinct legal and education systems, and since 1999 Scotland has largely been administered by its own devolved government in Edinburgh). But that border is nothing more than signs at the side of the road, there are no barriers, there are no guards, there is no customs, there is no passport control.

Why should we create artificial barriers between two peoples who have shared so much over the past centuries? The current relationship between Scotland (the land of my birth) and England offers the best of both worlds, with the Scottish people having a very great degree of autonomy in a great many important social and economic issues, while remaining a member of the family of nations which is the United Kingdom, which remains a major player in global affairs. Why should we give that up for the sake of petty and spiteful separatism?

For me, the relationship is best encapsulated in the words of the famous Scottish folk singer Dick Gaughan, in his song Both Sides The Tweed:

"Let the love of our land's sacred rights

To the love of our people succeed

Let friendship and honour unite

And flourish on both sides the Tweed."

Highlights
Hot Topics

...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 一级日韩 | 亚洲欧美日韩高清在线看 | 99re国产视频 | 日韩美a一级毛片 | 成人免费观看高清在线毛片 | 特级毛片a级毛免费播放 | 久久国产精品永久免费网站 | 亚洲高清一区二区三区四区 | 亚洲人成网址在线观看 | 男人把女人桶到喷白浆的视频 | 日本三级香港三级少妇 | 91年精品国产福利线观看久久 | 国产一区成人 | 一区二区三区伦理 | a免费视频 | 欧美日韩一级二级三级 | 白白在线观看永久免费视频 | 成人黄色免费观看 | 亚洲永久中文字幕在线 | 韩国一区在线 | 欧洲美女a视频一级毛片 | 2020国产成人免费视频 | 国产成人美女福利在线观看 | 成人午夜视频在线观 | www.亚洲成人.com | 欧美视频在线一区二区三区 | 亚洲经典在线观看 | 久久精品国产精品亚洲精品 | 国产在线观看一区二区三区 | www.日本三级| 亚洲成人欧美 | 久久视频精品线视频在线网站 | 国产偷国产偷亚洲高清在线 | 欧美日韩中文一区二区三区 | 国产亚洲女在线精品 | 中国欧美一级毛片免费 | 国产精品久久久久久免费播放 | 日韩亚洲精品不卡在线 | 久久久久久全国免费观看 | 俄罗斯一级成人毛片 | 久久久久999|