‘Ghosted’ Albany set to axe Chinese sister city Linyi

The WA town of Albany looks set to formally scrap its Chinese sister city relationship, more than a year after a councillor first raised objections about the arrangement.

The National Anzac Centre in Albany, Western Australia. Picture: Tourism WA

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The West Australian town of Albany looks set to formally scrap its Chinese sister city relationship, more than a year after a councillor first raised objections about the arrangement.

The City of Albany council will on Tuesday vote on whether to accept a recommendation to conclude its affiliation with the Chinese city of Linyi, while also reaffirming its ties with three other sister cities elsewhere around the world.

Albany councillor Thomas Brough last year began calling for the severing of ties with Linyi, warning that the relationship could lead to Chinese Communist Party “influence and interference” and “pressures to sovereign integrity”.

Since then, Albany has developed a Civic Affiliations Policy to administer its sister city relationships and set out a framework to review and, if necessary, cancel those arrangements.

Albany mayor Greg Stocks told The Australian that while it still remained to be seen how the council would vote on the resolution, all sister city arrangements had been subject to a rigorous review process.

Albany councillor Thomas Brough.

“We examined all the interactions and correspondence over the last 10 years or so with each of those sister city relationships, we’ve also taken into account the cultural significance, particularly from a military point of view, and then we’ve asked for input from our local stakeholders,” he said.

The review has reaffirmed the sister city relationships with Gallipoli in Turkey, the French town of Peronne, and Tomioka in Japan. Albany has strong historical ties to both Gallipoli and Peronne, given Albany was the point from which many Australian soldiers departed for those World War I battlefields.”

Mr Stocks said any decision to axe the Chinese relationship should not be seen as Sinophobic.

“We’re absolutely trying to avoid an anti-Chinese sentiment,” he said. “That’s why we’ve gone through the facts of the relationships, and any one of them or all of them could be up for consideration. The recommendation is based on the criteria and the examination of a decade or more of previous correspondence, interaction and visitation.”

Dr Brough, the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Albany at next year’s state election, said that while the CCP was making a lot of noise about friendship and co-operation, it had attacked Australia’s values and its economy.

“Linyi has ghosted Albany since 2014,” he said. “In the meantime, the dragon in Beijing has been sharpening its claws, playing economic Hunger Games with our primary producers.

“We’ve realised it’s time to take Chairman Xi’s photo off our mantelpiece. Honestly, we’re still wondering how it ended up in the pool room.”

Dr Brough said the efforts to end the sister city arrangement was not about Linyi or Albany, but rather about “standing up for Australian values”. “We’re sending a clear message: our democracy isn’t a Temu bargain deal. The CCP can keep its discount diplomacy – we’re not buying.”