This separation comes after the widely documented reports of horrific human rights violations towards Uyghur Muslims. It is has been recorded that over million Uyghur Muslims living in the region of Xinjiang, have been detained in "re-education camps". Here they have been subject to counts of rape, torture, forced sterilisation and assimilation of culture. The Chinese Communist government has categorically denied these human rights violations and has denied the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights full access to the Xinjiang region to assess the situation.
Local Hong Kong group “Newcastle stands with Hong Kong '', led by past and present students of the University, brought the motion to the city council. They did this after they co launched the Global Detwin with China Campaign on the 1st of July 2022 with 18 other Hong Kong activist groups. The campaign was co launched across 163 cities, in 7 countries in Asia, North America, Europe and Oceania.
Additionally, the campaign aims to highlight not only the Chinese Government's human rights violations but their manipulation of sister city agreements. In particular it aims to illuminate their threat to foreign states national security.
Sister city agreements have been a crucial part of China’s diplomacy. However, the Detwinning Campaign aims to evidence how Chinese propaganda is infiltrating and financially controlling higher education institutes in some sister cities by the use of Confucious institutes. These Confucius institutes are backed by the Chinese government and provide funding to universities. Although, they have been barred from discussing "sensitive" topics that might reflect badly on people’s perception of China and its government. And due to the financial security, that these institutes provide Universities, academic freedom becomes restricted as certain research topics are disallowed and unfunded.
Academic freedom becomes restricted as certain research topics are disallowed and unfunded
The conversation around academic freedom is crucial not only across all sister cities but Newcastle especially. This is because Newcastle University's own Dr Jo Finley was sanctioned by China last year following her research and activism on the Uyghur Muslims. These sanctions pose a serious threat not only to academic freedom of speech but to Dr Finley herself who is at risk of being extradited to China when travelling abroad.
As a result of the evidence provided by “Newcastle stands with Hong Kong'' and the Global Detwin Campaign; Newcastle City Council resolved to: "express condemnation of the Chinese government’s treatments of Uyghur Muslims and to give notification that Newcastle City Council will terminate their Sister City agreement with Taiyuan". As well as to write to Newcastle MPs to urge them to lobby the UK Government to take action in relation to the treatment of Uyghur Muslims.