‘Purged’ Chinese mayor cited in push on sister city ties with Albany

The councillor behind a push to scrap Albany’s Chinese sister city relationship said China’s justice system made it an incompatible partner.

Deputy WA Premier Rita Saffioti. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Philip Gostelow

The Chinese mayor who signed a sister city arrangement with the southwest West Australian town of Albany has since been purged from his role and appears to have “disappeared”.

The case of Chen Xianyun is detailed in a dossier prepared by Albany councillor Thomas Brough as part of his push for Albany to scrap its sister city ­arrangement with the Chinese city of Linyi.

The document has been distributed to City of Albany councillors ahead of a vote later this month on whether the relationship should be ended.

WA Treasurer and Acting Premier Rita Saffioti on Wednesday ­rubbished Dr Brough’s proposal, revealed by The Australian, to scrap the sister city relationship as “some sort of bad plot for a Netflix drama”.

China is overwhelmingly WA’s biggest trading partner because of its consumption of the bulk of the state’s iron ore production.

“WA is a trading state. Albany is built on a port with very much an external focus. So people want to play politics on these issues, but we have to look at the long-term ­future of WA, the economy and making sure we continue to drive jobs and investment,” Ms Saffioti said.

“I don’t support these types of local political battles or local political initiatives to try to gain some momentum maybe in council elections.”

The document prepared by Dr Brough discusses the fate of Mr Chen, who was mayor of Linyi at the time the sister city relationship was established in 2014 and who presided over the banquet held in honour of an Albany delegation at that time.

Dr Brough said in his report that Mr Chen had been ­“suddenly purged” from the ­Chinese Communist Party in May 2020 and the former mayor appeared to have since disappeared from the public record.

A summary of charges against Mr Chen, published on the ­National Commission for Discipline Inspection and reported by China News Service, described how he “violated political discipline and opposed organisational review”, “received gifts and entered private clubs in violation of regulations”, and was suspected of bribery.

“Chen Xianyun lost his ideals and convictions and was disloyal and unreliable to the party; he abandoned his original mission and demanded bribes to run away from officials; he used public power as a tool for private gain, engaged in collusion between ­officials and businessmen, and traded power and money,” the China News Service report said.

“The nature was serious and the impact was bad.”

Dr Brough’s report also detailed how a blind human rights campaigner from Linyi named Chen Guangcheng had been imprisoned in 2005 on charges of ­fomenting state resistance after he filed a class action on behalf of alleged victims of forced abortion and sterilisation.

He ultimately fled house arrest and sought refuge in the US embassy, before moving to the US with his wife and two children.

Pointing to the reported executions of some Chinese Communist Party members who had been charged with corruption, Dr Brough said the differences in criminal justice methodologies between Albany and Linyi made them incompatible as sister cities.

He has also said the sister city relationship could expose ­Albany to undue “influence and interference”.

Albany mayor Dennis Wellington, meanwhile, questioned whether it was appropriate for a local council to take such a stand.

“Personally, I think we should stick to our knitting,” he told 6PR radio.

“Our job as a local council is to look after the town. If you want to get into international politics, then go somewhere else.”

Mr Wellington, who was Albany mayor and part of the delegation at the time the Linyi arrangement was struck, said the sister city relationship was already dormant.

“We haven’t done anything with Linyi since 2014 and won’t do into the future, so why don’t we just let it lie and die away?” he said.

Dr Brough’s proposal will go before the council later this month.

Albany’s next council election will be held later this year, although Dr Brough’s term does not expire for another two years.