Ex-Hong Konger criticises city's China twinning

Sheffield City Council's twinning agreement with a city in China has been criticised by former Hong Kong residents over human rights concerns.

Chengdu, which is the capital of Sichuan province, and Sheffield have been twinned since 2010.

But Clara Cheung, a former Hong Konger who moved to Sheffield in 2021, told a council meeting that she and others believed such a relationship told Chinese students that the city was "aligning or endorsing the authoritarian regime in China".

Fran Belbin, leader of the council, said: "Maintaining a relationship with a city does not imply formal endorsement of the policies or actions of that city's national government."

Cheung, who left Hong Kong after the national security law was introduced, told the Sheffield Council meeting last week that cities sharing such a twinning relationship should also share "common values, about human rights, about religious freedom".

She also highlighted the treatment of Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans, the arrest of young women for publishing gay erotica and Chinese state pressure on Sheffield Hallam University's research into Uyghur forced labour.

Sheffield also twinned with Khmelnytskyi in Ukraine in 2022 and made a friendship agreement with Nablus on the West Bank in 2024.

At the meeting last week, Cheung asked: "Where is the standard? We support the idea the local council previously twinned with one more city in Ukraine because of the war.

"The example of Palestine is about solidarity. Why don't we see more solidarity with British citizens in Hong Kong?

"Our position is, if you keep twinning with the city, according to your policy, at least you have to follow up on these human rights issues."

According to the the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cheung told councillors that Hong Kong students in Sheffield feared speaking out against the Chinese state, with some unwilling to give personal information at meetings.

"This is an example of how scared everyone is," she explained.

"If the council is showing such a friendly relationship with the Chengdu government, it's not only about business.

"You are showing the Chinese students here that this local government in Sheffield is aligning or endorsing the authoritarian government in China.

"They're helping with this suppression."

Responding, Belbin said there were "no current plans to terminate" Sheffield's twin city status with Chengdu, explaining that international relationships were about "economic, educational, cultural and people-to-people links".

"The council recognises that concerns relating to freedom of religion and human rights in China are serious," she said.

"The council acknowledges the resolution of the House of Commons on 22 April 2021, in which the House stated its belief that Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were suffering crimes against humanity and genocide, and called on the government to act.

"Responsibility for UK foreign policy, international human rights diplomacy and sanctions rests principally with national government."

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the UK said of Cheung's comments: "The claim is entirely fabricated and utterly groundless.

"It's a malicious attempt to smear China and Chengdu. We firmly oppose it."

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