Campaigners said the same day three years ago – June 12, 2019 – that Hong Kong citizens bravely stood up and fought against the Chinese totalitarian government, but that many still face “continuing oppression and persecution.” They also say that since the Russian invasion, the city council has severed ties and ended its sister city status with Minsk in Belarus and Krasnodar in Russia. And the NSWHK has launched a joint campaign with other UK cities in a call to end sister city status with China. The connection between the city and the Chinese city is represented by the Ningbo Bridge, which was built over the A52 Clifton Boulevard when the tram network was expanded several years ago. Read more: Invasion of Ukraine pushes Nottingham to sever ties with twin cities of Russia and Belarus The protest started at 1 p.m. Ken Wong, one of the organizers, said: “The March is today, June 12, because that is where the whole Hong Kong movement started. So the goal of our protest here today is to ask the council to end the twin cooperation with the sister city in Ningbo. “It’s because we have seen a lot of issues in Hong Kong and Ukraine and Russia invading Ukraine. And we saw the city council take its place on these issues related to this tyranny, the invasions. “So we do not think we should join Ningbo anymore.” The only other active twinning agreement Nottingham currently has is with Karlsruhe in Germany. Ahead of the protest, Cllr Mayor David Mellen said: “We support the move and look forward to receiving the report from the Nottingham Stands with Hong Kong on Sunday. Earlier this year, after watching the events in Ukraine, we decided to end the union between Nottingham and the cities of Krasnodar and Minsk. “The severance of these ties came from our reluctance to link to the actions of the governments of Russia and Belarus and was the right decision. In the light of the report, we will examine our relationship with Ningbo and respond to the report in due course. ” The University of Nottingham has a campus in Ningbo. And, in August last year, NottinghamshireLive reported that the University of Nottingham had expressed its intention to acquire its joint venture partners on the Nottingham Malaysia (UMN) campus. In a statement on the Downtown protest, Nottingham University said: “We support the people of Hong Kong and are proud to have many Hong Kong citizens in our student and alumni community, including those on campus Ningbo of China. “Offering education in both Nottingham and China gives us a unique place to benefit those in both countries and beyond. This includes using our research power to challenge issues that concern us all, for example on human rights. “We are well aware of the reports on the treatment of Hong Kong citizens and our academic community is both involved in researching, publishing and providing public commentary and information on these issues.” Read more related articles Read more related articles
