West Australia City Votes to Review Sister-City Ties With Beijing

Motion to end the tie defeated, coming with a compromise motion

The City of Albany in Western Australia on July 26, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Albany, a regional city in West Australia, has decided to examine if and how it should end its sister-city relationships after councillors advocated for severing ties with sister city Linyi in China.

This follows the defeat of a motion started by councillor Thomas Brough to end Albany’s sister-city relationship with Linyi City in China’s Shandong Province, which was defeated 9-3 at a council meeting on July 25.

However, a compromise motion calling for Albany to review all its five sister-city relationships and examine how to sever those no longer needed passed unanimously.

“The City of Albany Council resolved to request the Chief Executive Officer to review the Civic Affiliations Policy and workshop this review by the 7th of February 2024,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “In the meantime, all sister-city relationships remain in place.”

Councillor Satisfied With the Compromise

Mr. Brough, who brought forward the motion over concerns about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s influence and infiltration into Australia, said he was “delighted” by the outcome because many councillors he spoke to agreed that the relations with Linyi were already dead, and they just needed “a bureaucrat process” to end it formally.

The Albany councillor initially became uneasy about the CCP infiltration after attending a recent meeting between the Albany council and a delegation headed by Long Dingbin, the Chinese Consul-General of WA. According to Mr. Brough, the delegation showed particular interest in Albany’s airport, which is wholly owned by Albany but in need of a $30 million upgrade of its tarmac, as well as the Chinese-owned Ferngrove Estate winery near Albany, the fish stocks in Albany’s waters, and the area’s minerals.

City of Albany Councillor Thomas Brough. Supplied

“Although I would have preferred for the motion to be passed, this objective is to draw the council and the community’s attention to the nefarious actions of the CCP with regard to foreign influence and interference, and that objective was met,” he told The Epoch Times.

“I respect the decision of the council to spend a few months getting the funeral paperwork… I felt that it was urgent because I was concerned about undermining our civic governance. My fellow councillors wanted to build a broad general consensus and pursue a bureaucratic solution.

“Overall, [I am] very happy that the council are on board with the idea of paying attention to CCP influence.”

DFAT: Rights of Albany to End the Relationship

Despite the compromise, Mr. Brough admitted that some in the community feared offending the communist regime.

“It is undoubted that people in the community generally feel intimidated by the power of the CCP, and they are frightened by it…It takes time for the community to realize that it can be brave,” he said.

“As part of the due diligence for preparing my motion to cut ties with Linyi, our staff sought input from the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and asked them whether there would be any adverse impact on the people of Albany.

A fisherman can be seen onboard a vessel at Emu Point in Albany, Western Australia, on July 26, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

“The report from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was that the CCP would be irritated, but there wouldn’t be any economic or political costs, that it was totally within the rights of Albany to end the relationship. If there were some small economic or political consequences, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would be able to easily deal with it.”

Local Residents Support Repealing the Tie

Local residents widely supported the call to end the sister city relationship with Linyi.

Sarah Wignell, an enrolled nurse, believes the city should discontinue the ties with Linyi.

“No, if it’s not beneficial and we’re trying to establish a relationship with a country that’s not willing to have a fair relationship,” she told The Epoch Times.

Ken Johnston, a retired truck driver, echoed the call to rescind the tie.

“I think it’s a good idea to cancel it. [The CCP are] bullies. That’s all they are. They try to intimidate everybody else,” he said.

Mr. Johnston referred to Beijing’s trade retaliation against Australia after former Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked to investigate the origin of COVID.

“If everything doesn’t go their way, they spit the dummy. But we’ve found other markets, I think that’s really upset them too.

“It was good at Christmas time a couple of years ago when crayfish [lobsters] were half the price because they [China] wouldn’t take them. Now we’ve found other markets for the wine which they were against. And the coal. They stopped the coal, remember? But then they needed it.

“I think it was India in the end [who] took some of it, but we should never have given in to them and let them have it back again.”

Australian lobsters seized by the Hong Kong Customs during an anti-smuggling operation are displayed at a news conference in Hong Kong on Oct. 15, 2021. Kin Cheung/AP Photo

Prakash Wadhwa, a disability support worker, believes the council should review the relationship and “see what is in the favour of Australia.”

“When they review it next year, they should be firm in taking a decision which is going to benefit both countries,” he said. “At the same time, if there is no progress being made, you have to not be sitting on the fence. If there are other countries apart from China which they can look into trading with, they should consider that too.”

Cries of “shame” from the public gallery could be heard when the council voted against the original motion brought by Mr. Brough, who said he received communication from people from every state in Australia and dozens of Albany residents with text messages, phone calls, emails, letters, and conversations asking to get out of the relationship.

“I couldn’t get a haircut or an order a meal or go to the supermarket without being approached by a community member speaking favourably getting out of the relationship,” he said.

Albany mayor Dennis Wellington said the council ­chose a more “systematic and diplomatic” way to review all five of its sister-city relationships.

“We don’t have a process where you can actually withdraw from any of the sister cities. We’ve got five of them, and we should have a look at all of them to see if they have gone past their use-by date or not,” he told The Australian.

Mr. Wellington personally believes that the sister-city relationships would not survive except for those with Gallipoli and Peronne, given the strong WWI links.

“It’s a different dynamic these days, and I don’t think they serve any real purpose unless you’ve got a specific reason for them.”

Susan Mortimer contributed to this report.