Durham University is planning to close its Department of East Asian Studies, as well as its Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies undergraduate programmes. This has shocked people from many walks of life, and many have contacted the Vice Chancellor in an attempt to reverse the decision before an irrevocable step is taken.

There is widespread feeling that, at a time when the UK is trying to build a global image to secure future prosperity, closing one of the few specialist East Asian departments in the country is shortsighted in the extreme. It would seriously diminish the field of East Asian Studies in the UK and, in so doing, disadvantage Britain in its future relations with East Asia. Statistics for the past few years show that around 10% of UK graduates in Japanese Studies – specialists with the capacity to move into senior positions related to Japan – come from Durham.

Sir Leonard Appleyard, Co-Chairman of the Nuffield Languages Programme, is well placed to evaluate the potential damage. As a former British Ambassador to China he knows from personal experience in Beijing that the links with Durham are highly valued and has no doubt that a decision to close the Department of East Asian Studies would be deeply resented and would cast a long shadow for years to come. Sir Len said: "If the decision is taken, it would effectively mean shutting off the University's chances of a productive relationship with a rapidly expanding economic and intellectual giant."

A fellow member of the Nuffield Languages Programme, Hugh Morgan Williams, is also well placed to comment on the situation. A prominent businessman in the North East Region, he outlines the economic arguments against the closure: "The North East has a high proportion of inward investments from the Far East and a regional linguistic capacity in this area is essential and highly rated." He also highlights the contribution made by Japanese companies to the regional economy in the last twenty years.

Another local voice is Ann Hughes, Acting Headteacher of Hummersknott School & Specialist Language College in Darlington, who said:: "I am striving to broaden the horizons of the pupils in my care and encourage in them the outward looking philosophy so transparent in youngsters from other countries. The University is a key player in our Mandarin teaching programme which has seen 25 plus pupils per year for the last two years choose Mandarin as a second language." She feels that by closing this department the UK and the North East in particular will have reinforced the view that as a nation we are not serious players on the world scene, just a backwater on the edge of Europe.